


In which Dave catches Karkat singing in the shower (ON HIATUS)

by fukmylyf



Category: Homestuck
Genre: All the shenanigans, Biting, Bondage, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Consent, Double Penetration in One Hole, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, M/M, Meteor Shenanigans, Pale Rape, Porn With Plot, Read at Your Own Risk, Shower Sex, Singing in the Shower, also all the fluff, and dave is surprised, because that would be a thing back on alternia, im sure of it, karkat is really good at singing, mentions of abuse, mentions of torture, minor gore, mutual consent, non-con elements, poor babys, they have no idea how to romance, this gets super kinky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-24 13:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 20,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2583830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fukmylyf/pseuds/fukmylyf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>exactly whats on the can</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Your name is Dave Strider and you’re just walking down the hall, looking for things to do, people to piss off. Of course, that second option is really limited. Really, _really_ limited. Basically one person. 

It’s too early in the morning for anyone to be awake anyways, so you guess you’ll just go to the bathroom and freshen up. 

Of course when you get there, it’s already occupied. And you can hear the sounds of music coming from inside. You don’t recognize the song, but that’s probably because you never listened to Green Day all that much. Or punk music. Nah, that shit’s for angsty, angry fuckers, like Karkat, for example. 

_“I declare I don't care no more_

_I'm burning up and out and_

_Growing bored_

_In my smoked out boring room”_

Aw hell, is that him singing? You press your ear against the door, and yeah, he’s totally singing. Wow. 

As much as you hate to be _nice_ to Karkat… shit. He’s really good at singing. That is totally not fair. He’s so lame and, goddamn it, he watches _romcoms_ for fucks sake. And then next thing you know he’s singing rock songs in the shower. That just- no. You disagree with this. But you carry on sitting against the door listening to him sing.

The shower stops and he stops singing too. Aw. You knock on the door.

“Yo, Karks, you done in there?”

“Shut the fuck up, Strider. You can wait your own goddamn turn,” he growls. Another song comes on, My Chemical Romance or something. He’s humming to them. You really want to hear him sing again but you guess since he knows you’re outside he’s not going to. 

Stupid self-concious asshole. You want him to sing more. Screw him. 

“Hey Kitkat, heard you singing in the shower,” you say, nonchalant as fuck. 

“Wh-what? Strider, you creep! Why were you even listening?”

Well, ok that’s not going to get him to sing more. Maybe you should try complimenting him. 

“I was listening ‘cause you’re actually really good. Just saying.”

The door slams open and you jump back across the hall.

“Holy _shit_ Vantas, seriously, are you trying to kill me?”

“Yes, actually, I am.”

“Karkat, look, I was being completely honest. I mean, I used your actual name! Doesn’t that mean anything?”

He runs a hand through his damp hair. He’s only wearing his boxers. Hot damn. Yes, you’re not Karkat’s biggest fan, and yes, you do enjoy making fun of him. But you can still admire a good build, an attractive face, and as much as it pains you to say it, _Karkat is really fucking hot._  

“Why- just- ugh don’t tell anybody, ok?”

“Done, man. But seriously, could you just sing for a tiny, tiny bit in one of my tracks? Please?”

His eyes widen and his eyebrows raise a little. Yeah, you don’t normally use the P-word. 

“Why?”

“Because. You’re… not actually that bad at singing. Like, at all.”

His cheeks color a little. Goddamn him. You aren’t supposed to like him. He’s supposed to be an annoying little shit. Ugh. 

“Thanks, I guess. Yeah, fine, I’ll… _sing_ for you, or whatever.”

“Cool.” 

You grin at him and he scowls at you. He’s so obviously flustered. Cute. 

“Can I go back to changing now?” he asks, glaring. Yeah, normal Karkat is back. 

“Yeah totes, just don’t come out tomorrow, I still wanna shower _today_.”

“Fuck you,” he says, flipping you off as he walks into the bathroom. You smile at the closed door like the creep you are. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp. i might follow this up.. but hey, depends how this is recieved. drop a comment or a kudos or whatever. seriously though, comments are really appreciated. tell me if you want a second chapter. (also, my headcanon for karkat's voice, singing and speaking, is and always will be Case. y'all should go get both his albums, they are in-fucking-credible)


	2. Chapter 2

You and Dave set a date for his recording session. He gave you a sheet of lyrics and a basic tune and told you to have at it, and then said he’d record tomorrow. You began practicing almost immediately.

As much as you’re loathe to admit it, Dave’s compliment about your singing meant a lot to you. You’d been singing since you were a grub and it’d always been a way to just, _relax_. Of course, there weren’t any songs you could find that weren’t propaganda and when you asked Sollux about it, he told you that most songs that weren’t pro-Condesce were anti-Condesce and the people who made them were just as dead as the people who listened to them would be. 

You, of course, tried writing your own music, but you failed. Ridiculously. Dave can write songs _really_ well though, so you’re pretty happy he asked you to sing for him.

And you can’t deny that he’s one of the only people you can stand to hang out with anymore. The other is Terezi, but she’s always off doing whatever it is she does with your ex-moiraill in the vents. 

You’re happier not thinking about him anyways. You prefer to ignore how broken your relationship was even before he snapped. And your breakup wasn’t the cleanest, so you’re glad you’re done with him. In all honesty, you’re actually sorry for Terezi. Gamzee is not a healthy partner in any quadrant, especially not black, and you’re not sure how she’s coping. Really, you haven’t seen her in ages. 

You hope she’s ok. 

You push all negative thoughts to the back of your head and look at the lyrics in front of you instead. Dave fills your thoughts instead. You’ve learned to read his expressions and how to tell where he’s looking even when he has his shades on. Two years with no one else for comfort does that. 

You’re also pretty sure he was checking you out yesterday when he saw your half-naked body. You don’t exactly know how you feel about that. You’ve never considered yourself attractive, even though most would envy your build. You _had_ to have a good build; if you weren’t fit you’d be easy to catch, and if you were caught you would die. It was really simple. So, yes, you had what some would call an attractive figure. 

Ugh, your mind keeps going off track. You play the music Dave gave you and bounce your knee to the beat, mindlessly reading the lyrics. 

Dave isn’t that great at singing, but he knows so much about music it doesn’t really matter. He spent a week trying to alchemize an electric guitar and you sat there and helped the entire time. By the time you figured out the code, the two of you hadn’t slept in five nights and passed out as soon as he finished tuning the damn thing. 

That was a really awkward morning. Rose and Terezi came in to find you and Dave wrapped around each other, you drooling on Dave’s chest, his face buried between your horns. The guitar was lying forgotten to your side. 

You woke up to see Rose grudgingly handing a few boon bucks to a grinning Terezi. You and Dave, of course, agreed to never speak of the incident again. Ever.

You wonder if you can get him to teach you how to play it. That would be awesome. Maybe you could even start trying to write songs again. 

You stare at the lyrics on your computer screen again, before closing your grubtop and leaving. You’re hungry, goddamnit, and you’ve been practicing all night. You open the door and go crashing straight into, who else, Strider.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” you yelp retreating back towards your door, rubbing your nose sorely. Dave rubs his chest similarly. 

“I came looking for you, man. Terezi just said there was another dream bubble and I am not going through that shit alone.”

“Ugh, no. I am not leaving this goddamn meteor,” you growl, pushing past Dave to make your way to the common room. Dave follows behind you. 

“Then don’t leave. You can help me and Mayor with Can Town.”

You glance over at him from under your bangs. He’s got his hands shoved deep into his pockets, slouching indifferently. He’s got a different build from you. While you’re lean and lithe, he’s bigger. There’s more definition in his muscles, and you envy him. He’s really fucking hot.

Shit, you did not just think that.

“You checking me out, Kitkat?” he smirks. You punch him in the arm.

“As if I would waste my time staring at your putrid sack of bone and flesh.”

“Karkles! I’m hurt.”

You snort in reply. He grins at you and throws an arm casually across your shoulders. You make no move to displace it. 

“So,” he says.

“So,” you reply. You lean into him slightly and he doesn’t say anything, just tightens his arm across your shoulder. 

“What’ve you been doing, cooped up in your block all morning?”

“Practicing,” you reply, looking away. You know he’s raising his eyebrows above his shades without even turning to look. His arm shifts and you guess he just shrugged. 

His arm drops from your shoulder when you begin to near the common room. You grab a soda and a bag of Doritos. Dave nods approvingly, opening his own soda. He throws his arms across your shoulders again when you begin to leave, as the room is completely free of meddling, curious broads. You lean into him again, opening the bag of Doritos awkwardly, what with still holding your soda in one hand. Dave chuckles and his free hand, the one draped over you, comes down to hold one side of the package so you can tug it open with your free hand. You grunt a thanks and he grabs a couple and pops them in his mouth. 

Well, how the hell are you going to feed yourself if you’ve got an open soda in one hand, and an open bag of chips in the other. Dave appears to recognize your predicament and takes a chip out of the bag and holds it in front of your mouth. 

What the hell? You voice your thoughts.

“Well, how else are you gonna eat,” he deadpans, as if it’s the most obvious thing ever. You sigh and take the edge of the chip between your teeth and pull it into your mouth. 

“See? How bad was that?”

“Shut the fuck up, Strider,” you reply. He grabs another chip and feeds it to you before grabbing one for himself. You continue in this way until you reach Can Town. 

When you sit down next to Dave to help him redecorate another one of Can Town’s new nightclubs, his hand keeps brushing against yours. You’re sure it’s by accident. There’s no way he actually likes you, let alone thinks you’re attractive, right?

_ Right? _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYY ok u guys can thank Starysky205 for motivating me to finish the second chapter so quickly. y'all should drop comments, theyre super nice and great motivation! thanks for all the kudos guys!


	3. Chapter 3

Karkat shuffles around in your room, the very picture of awkward. 

“Vantas, sit down. Goddamn.”

“Uh, right,” he says. He sits on your bed next to you and you pass him your headphones. He pulls them on, blushing slightly.

“Hey, if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to,” you tell him, messing with a couple more things on your screen before just clicking play. Karkat closes his eyes and listens. He starts mouthing the lyrics along, quiet and cute as all hell. Shit. 

The music stops and his eyes fly open. His blush grows a little darker. Hot damn is that boy cute.

That

That thought wasn’t you, no. Karkat is your friend, maybe, nothing else. Yeah. No romantic or sexual feelings for any small, angry nubby-horned trolls here. Absolutely not. 

“So, uh, you wanna sing for me first, and then we record, or what?”

“I… don’t fucking care, just don’t tell me when you start recording,” he mumbles. He lets out a small sigh and glances up at you before looking away. His eyes settle on your guitar, all tucked away in the corner of the room.

“Hey, after you’re done recording, could you… uh, teach me? How to,” he gestures at the guitar. 

“Yeah, sure,” you reply. “But you gotta trade for it.”

“What? No, fuck you.”

“Aw, come on. Just, like, I dunno, I teach you a lesson, you sing me a song. I mean, we could learn some of those rock songs you apparently like listening to, and first I’ll play and you just watch and maybe possibly sing along and shit.”

He glares at you and glances at the guitar. “You know what, fuck it, I’ll teach myself.”

“Karkles, come _on_. I’m not even going to record it. I just,” you stop yourself. No. You aren’t saying that, that is _awkward as hell_.

“You just what?” He’s looking up at you all curious, big eyes, freckled cheeks, mouth pursed. Fuck.

“You have a nice voice and I like listening to it, ok?” you say, a little harsh. Karkat’s cheeks go a lot redder. 

“Uh,” he says, looking away. “I mean, I guess if you’re not recording it’s ok.”

“Great.” You hand him a mic and he looks at it like he’s torn between being confused about it’s presence and disgust at what he has to do with it.

“You have to practice singing with one,” you tell him. He glares at it a little harder.

“Why?”

“Because. For example, if you have to sing louder to hit a higher note you pull it away from your mouth. And if you have to sing quieter to hit a lower note, you bring it closer.”

“Oh.” He’s still glaring at it like it’s offending his very existence. You smirk and pull your headphones out of your laptop. Karkat’s eyes fly over to your hands and he’s visibly distressed. 

“Karks,” you say. You pat his face and he stops squirming, instead blushing and looking away. “I’m not even recording. Do you need the lyrics?”

He shakes his head. 

“Ok, can we start?”

He nods.

“Is your voice actually working or have I broken Karkat Vantas?”

“Oh, fuck off and just start the damn song, bulgemunch!”

“Can’t do both at the same time, sweetheart. You gotta pick one or the other.”

He glares and punches you in the arm. 

“Fuck you. Start the song.”

You start the song and begin recording. Karkat’s foot bounces to the beat and then the intro stops. He closes his eyes and starts singing. 

God _damn_. With his eyes closed you can watch him without worrying about him catching you (damn troll and his ability to read you even with your shades on). You watch his lips move, watch his tongue flick around inside his mouth. He still has a bit of an Alternian accent when he speaks, but it completely vanishes when he sings. Instead, he has a slight rasp to his voice, something husky and rough, but _so goddamn hot._

You don’t realize you’re leaning forward until he moves slightly. You sit back so quickly you end up giving yourself a headache. Karkat’s eyes flutter open as he sings the last line. He’s blushing and you’re leaning in again.

Karkat let’s you slide your arms around him and hoist him onto your lap. His eyes flutter closed and you can feel his soft breaths against your lips. 

“Can I?” you ask. Karkat nods and you close the space between your lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to Kaos (EirotiC), CrystalCove & HumanAbby again for the really nice comments


	4. Chapter 4

“Dave?”

You shove at his shoulder. Asshole, just passing out when you’re in the middle of recording. At least, you’re pretty sure he was recording. 

“ _Dave._ Hey, bulgemunch, wake up.” 

You poke at the cheek not mashed against your shoulder. And he fell asleep _on_ you, no less. Ugh. It’s what stopped you singing in the first place. The sudden feeling of his head dropping on your shoulder. He must’ve been leaning in to tell you something. But why? It’s not like your hearing was suddenly stunted, he was playing the goddamn track out of his laptop, not his headphones. 

Ugh. Goddamn idiot. You’re hoping he hurries up and wakes up because you’re bored and frankly it’s a little awkward how he just fell asleep on your shoulder. Dave wouldn’t do that with anybody else, you don’t think. 

Oh, fuck this. You shove him off your shoulder, hard, and he flails and falls off the bed, eyes snapping open. 

“Holy shit,” he manages to yell, crashing on the floor. You glance at him and snort. He’s fine.

“What the fuck was that for?” he says, getting up and rubbing his ass sorely. 

“You fell asleep,” you state, adding “bulgemunch” when you feel like you haven’t insulted him enough. 

“Oh.”

He’s blushing, his shades turned towards your face.

“Dave? You ok?” you ask, waving your hand in front of his face. He pushes his shades up, something you’ve learned to recognize as a nervous gesture. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong here.”

“Right. Well,” you gesture at the laptop sitting on your legs. “Are we going to get back to this or are you going to stand there all day.”

“Fuck you,” he states, sitting down next to you. He takes the laptop and clicks a couple of things and then he plays the track. Oh, _fuck_ , he was recording, that’s _your voice_ coming out his laptop. Ugh. 

“Woah. Ok for a first recording this is actually pretty good. You stopped in the middle though, that sucks.”

“Well, of fucking course I stopped in the middle! You passed out on me!”

“Whatever, man. Sometimes you just need to get your nap on, doesn’t matter where, doesn’t matter when.”

“That’s the biggest load of horseshit you have ever spewed, and that’s really saying something.”

He smirks at you and turns back to his laptop. He carries on clicking around at things, not saying anything.

“Dave? What the fuck are you doing? Stop ignoring me and not telling me when you’re going to space out and do whatever the fuck it is you’re doing,” you rant. He’s obviously not listening. Fuckass. 

“Ok, we’re gonna record from the middle bit. Where you cut off,” he says, still staring at the screen and clicking things. Still ignoring you.

You poke him hard in the thigh. 

“What,” he replies, not looking up.

“Dave. Fucking. Strider. Look at me,” you say. He turns to face you and, wow, ok his cheeks are pink, why.

“What do you want,” he says.

“Why are you acting weird?”

“I’m not weird, who’s weird? You’re weird.”

“Dave.”

“It’s nothing, ok? Just had a… weird dream.”

“What kind of weird?”

“Just _weird_ , ok? I don’t wanna talk about it,” and with that he’s turned back to his screen, clicking at things. His cheeks are bright red. 

“Dave.”

He turns and looks at you with an exasperated expression. It’s definitely weird seeing emotion on his face. “ _What_.” 

You reach out and touch his cheek, just brushing it with your fingers. His cheeks flush even darker. You move your hand into his hair, burying it in the carefully straightened and styled do. You move your other hand to take his shades off.

“You’re totally not ok,” you tell him, when you see his eyes wide open, red and desperate. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more short chapters? why not. thanks to mafiababe for the sweet comments. im still trying to learn how to deal with all these nice comments and stuff im getting i fucking love all of you <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wow this took way too long

Karkat’s hand. Is in your hair. 

Fuck.

What is it doing there. Why is he holding your shades. Why is he leaning closer. Why are _you_ leaning closer?

Oh yeah.

That’s why.

His lips are ridiculously soft, wow. They _are_ kinda dry and chapped but they’re soft and squishy and you push a little harder against them. He nips at yours in retaliation and you gasp because you weren’t expecting that. 

Well, if that’s how he wants to play it, who are you to deny him? You pull back and put your laptop and mic away and then pounce on him, mashing your lips harshly against his. He flops back onto the bed, his arms wrapping around your neck, one hand still firmly gripping your shades. 

Well, so long as he doesn’t crush them. 

You swipe your tongue against his lip and this time he pulls away, turning his head away from you, his cheeks a bright cherry red. 

Wow, ok, he’s fucking hot, all acting shy and nibbling his bottom lip. Fuck. This boy. 

This boy is going to be the death of you.

“Hey Karbaby, what’s up?”

“What are we doing?” he asks, looking up at you. Wow, his eyes are really pretty. They’re starting to turn red, little flecks of it appearing the light grey. 

“Well, we were making out.”

“No, I mean. Ugh. Why?”

“Because apparently we find each other attractive?”

“I- you know what, never mind.” He turns his head away from you and his eyes fall on the mic lying on the floor. “Shouldn’t we get back to that?”

“What’s the point? I’m the only one whose going to be listening to it, and I’m pretty sure I can make you sing sweeter songs.” You waggle your eyebrows at him and he snorts. He sits up on his elbow and starts playing with your shades.

“You find me attractive?” he asks, and his voice is so quiet at first you aren’t sure you heard him right.

“Course I find you attractive. Have you seen yourself, man? You’re _hot._ ”

He slaps you across the chest. “Shut up and quit lying. I’m not hot; apparently those shades you wear all the time are ruining your eyes.” And with that he puts your shades on.

“I’m Dave Strider and I’m a massive douche with eyesight that’s almost as bad as my metaphors,” he says, trying and failing to imitate your southern accent.

“Fuck you, man, I don’t sound like that,” you reply. He snorts and pushes your shades up, letting them rest in his hair. 

“I’m sorry, I haven’t mastered the art of sounding like a complete prick yet.”

You grin at him and he smirks at you, cheeks going pink. 

“I’m Karkat Vantas and I’m a whiny ass who can’t take a goddamn compliment when it is totally legit and true,” you tell him, kissing him softly. Karkat sighs against your lips. 

“You’re stupid,” he replies. “But you’re actually not as much of a douchebag as you make yourself out to be.”

“Aw, babe,” you say, pulling back to flutter your eyelashes at him and fan yourself. “I’m all out flustered here, goodness gracious, I do believe my poor heart will never recover.”

“You’re a fucking moron, you know that?” he replies, fisting his hands in your hair again and pulling you down for another kiss. You go without complaint, curling one hand behind his neck and the other around his hip. He flips you over with his legs and grins at you, sitting back on your thighs. 

You prop yourself up on your elbows and stare at him. “What now?” you ask. To be completely honest, you’re getting kinda annoyed by the fact that he keeps pulling away.

“It’s too hot in here,” he replies, grinning. You raise your eyebrows.

“Need any help with that?”

“Hm.” He fiddles with the hem of his sweater then pulls it over his head. You’re pretty sure if he was Terezi or Kanaya or Gamzee or any of the other trolls it wouldn’t be that easy and you’d actually have to help. 

He tosses his sweater to the side and you take the opportunity to examine his figure. 

Karkat is really skinny, what the fuck. He’s got an adorable hourglass figure and a tiny, tiny bit of fat over his stomach, and the rest is all lean muscle. How have you never noticed this? You saw him half-naked a couple days ago. Why weren’t you paying attention? 

Oh.

Because you were still obsessed with being a douchebag to him. Right. 

He wraps his arms around him a little self-consciously. You were probably full out staring, whoops. 

“Your turn,” he says. He’s gone from badass, cheeky and hot to being cute and shy again; there’s a blush spreading from his face down to his shoulders.

“Right,” you reply, captchaloguing your shirt and cape off. He puts his hands on your chest, fingers rubbing over your nipples before trailing down to poke at your belly button. 

“Humans are weird,” he tells you, lazily kissing and sucking at your neck. 

“Trolls are weirder,” you tell him, running your hands over his chest, tracing his grubscars, his gills. 

He pulls your hands away from the open slits under the dark grey bumps along his ribs. 

“Don’t touch those. They’re… sensitive.”

“How?”

“They enable me to breathe underwater, genius.”

“Oh. So wait, does touching them open them up and stuff.”

“Yeah.”

“And you can breathe underwater?”

“Yeah, but it’s not as cool as you’re making it out to be.”

“Why not?”

“ _Because_. Only seadwellers have gills. I’m supposed to be a low blood, which means no gills or fins, but hey, because the universe hates me, my blood ended up so low, it went right back round to being high again.”

“So gills are like a sign of troll royalty.”

“Yeah.”

“ _Cool._ ”

“You know what? Fine, yeah, they are pretty neat.”

You smile at him. He goes back to kissing and sucking at your neck and you try putting hickies on his. It’s difficult with how hard his skin is so you flip him over and bite down, hard. Karkat keens under you, gasping. You suck hard and he gives you a heated look from beneath his thick lashes. 

“Dave,” he hisses, a low purr starting in his chest. 

“Yeah?” you ask, pulling off the successful hickey to start another one.

“Stop marking me.”

“You marked me first! I’m just returning the favor.”

He groans and shifts and you realize he probably doesn’t want you to mark him for a completely different reason. Wow, hehe. You get off him and smirk.

“Need to take care of something?”

“Yes, good bye,” he replies and with that he’s gone, out of your room in seconds. You pick up his discarded sweater and smirk. It’s still warm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guyss i am so sorry about the fast ending but i rly wanted to make it smut but i was like, no maybe not i cant write smut. but i guess, if u guys want it i shall deliver. yeah. thanks for all the comments and kudos, hot damn, i cant even remember whose names i should put in here anymore.  
> also, 'fore i forget, ne1 kno how 2 code colors nd stuff?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!!!
> 
> also im soooo sorry about the delay, we've been moving and i haven't had that much time to write, but updates will be more regular next year so. also, thanks for all the comments and kudos i love all of you so much <3333
> 
> ok in other notes, tell me if ur ok with the smut or not, and just give me some ideas of what u want to see in future chapters! <333333333

“Yo Karks,” Dave says, strolling casually into the room. 

“Hi, asshole,” you mumble, turning away from him, coffee in hand. 

“Oh, hell no, you are not avoiding me this time. Also, you forgot your sweater.”

You whip around, sloshing some of the lukewarm caffeinated piss water on your hands. Kanaya and Rose give the two of you a _look_. 

“Fuck you, keep it,” you reply, turning away, face hot and red. Fucking asshole. You’re about to stomp onto the transportalizer when Terezi appearifies on it. 

“Karkles! Haven’t sniffed you in a while!” She gives you a hug, claws digging into your shoulders.

“Heard you kissed Dave,” she growls softly. 

“It was fucking awesome,” you growl, hugging her back. You purposely slosh some coffee onto her. She hisses and pushes you away.

Kanaya stands. “Do I need to intervene, you two?” she asks, lipstick already in hand. Terezi sticks her tongue out at you and you snarl at her. 

“I was just leaving,” you say, pushing past Terezi so you can get to the transportalizer. 

“I need to get a new shirt,” she says, turning to follow. Kanaya grabs her arm and you vanish in a flash of green light. 

You decide to go to your room the long way, walking down various corridors and climbing various sets of stairs. So long as you’re avoiding people, you’re happy. People being Kanaya, Dave and Terezi. But avoiding Kanaya means avoiding Rose, and avoiding Dave and Terezi means avoiding the Mayor, so you suppose you’ll just ignore them all. 

Your husktop buzzes in your sylladex and you ignore it, completing the final set of turns to your room. Your coffee cup is empty now, so you throw it into a nearby chest. 

Your husktop buzzes again. Fuck that shit, you are ignoring people. 

“Yo Karks,” Dave says. What the fuck is he doing in your _respiteblock_? Ugh, you were hoping to be alone for the next perigee or so, but your luck is, of course, awful and your friends are worse. 

“What the fuck do you want?” you growl, walking over to sit beside him on the concupiscent platform the humans made for you when they arrived. It’s more comfortable than a pile made out of horns, you won’t deny that, but you still don’t sleep in it. It’s still awkward as fuck to think about _sleeping_ in a _concupiscent_ platform. The thing is made for fucking sex. 

“Brought your sweater,” he replies, holding it out. You throw it onto a growing pile of dirty clothes. When you run out of clean ones, you’ll wash them. Maybe. 

“What are you actually here for,” you deadpan, turning so you’re facing him.

“Fine, why did you vanish after we made out? You haven’t spoken to me for three days and I’m confused and offended because I thought you wanted to… you know,” he mumbles. Dave Strider, lost for words. Because _you_ made him upset. You don’t like it.

So you kiss him. He pulls away almost immediately. 

“Look, Kitkat, I love making out with you and stuff, but where the fuck are you going with this?” 

You fiddle with the hem of your sweater, if only so your hands aren’t reaching for his. 

“I… I don’t know. I… _think_ I’m flushed for you, but I _don’t know,_ I just know it feels right kissing you and letting you…” you pause, searching for words. 

“…Letting you touch me. And if you don’t mind, I wanna go back to touching _you_.”

Dave flushes at that and you decide his shades are a pain in the ass and need to be gone _yesterday_. You slide them off his face and fold them carefully, placing them on the table next to your concupiscent platform. His hands make his way around your waist and he pulls you onto his lap. You lean against him and press light kisses to his neck. His lips wrap around you horns and he _sucks_ and you whine in reply. 

“D-Dave, holy _fuck,_ not _that oh my fucking fuck yes,_ ” you keen, trying to arch up so he can lick the more sensitive spots. He retaliates by grabbing you other horn, forcing your head down so it’s settled against his chest. Another small whine escapes your lips and Dave grins, pressing one feathery light kiss against your spit covered horn. 

“You look hot right now, Kat,” he says, tracing a finger across your cheek. 

“F-fuck you, don’t do that.”

“Why not?”

_“Sensitive._ Also terrifying as hell, because I’m a troll and all my basic instincts are telling me ‘teeth _bad_ ,’" you growl, trying to squirm out of his arms.

Easier said than done, apparently. You’d forgotten how strong Dave was. You push half-heartedly on his chest and he grins at you.

His eyes are really pretty up close, you think. You reach a hand up and he twitches away, wary of your claws so near his ocular spheres. You rest your hand on his cheek, swiping you thumb under his eye. Mutated, like you, but it fits him better.

You rest your head against his chest again, shifting so you’re sideways on his lap. He wraps his arms more firmly around you, mashing you against him. 

“You still haven’t finished recording,” you mumble, purring under your breath. Dave shrugs. 

“Still wanna learn guitar? Because I brought mine in case talking didn’t work. You know, so I could serenade you and stuff,” he starts. You have the strangest feeling, a kind of wisdom from your digestive sack, that if you don’t kiss him now, he is going to ramble about how he wrote a rap and a song for you and then he’ll start rapping about writing a rap for you. Like hell are you going to put up with all of that, you think, so you lean up and kiss him. 

“Yes, teach me,” you breathe, grinning at his parted lips. He nods. 

“Yeah, so, that’s going to be a thing right? You kissing me randomly.”

“Mmhmm.”

Dave smiles. You blink a couple times because, wow, is that weird as fuck. Not bad weird, just weird. You’ve never seen Dave properly smile without his glasses, or without trying to suppress it, and he looks gorgeous. 

“Guitar. Teach. Now,” you state, prying yourself off of him. He snorts and lets you go, pulling out his guitar and amp. 

Hell yes. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for delay

Karkat picks up the chord patterns ridiculously quickly. You just watch as he pulls off F sharp minors without trying. What the fuck. You could barely, _barely_ , play those in your _second year_. Fucking trolls. 

Which brings you back to a point you really hadn’t wanted to think about, mostly because hiding said point was difficult when watching an attractive troll you happened to be dating move his incredibly dexterous fingers up and down the fretboard. God, you wish he would consider this stupid lesson done so he could play _you_ like that. 

He finishes with whatever song it was that he was playing (fuck, you should probably pay more attention) and turns to you, glancing at you shyly from under his bangs. 

Your heart. It aches. 

“So. Uh. Was that right?” he asks, hands trailing nervously over the guitar strings.

“Kitkat,” you say, placing your hands on his shoulders. He scrunches his nose up at the nickname so you boop it with your own. “Kitkat,” you repeat.

“What,” he deadpans, scowling slightly. 

“I need you to stop being better at my instrument than me and begin touching me and playing me the way you were doing on that stupidly lucky guitar.”

He blushes at that, red blossoming from his cheeks to cover his nose and dust his ears and make a beeline down his neck. You wish you could see that smokey red settle on his shoulders, but of course, your mortal enemy stands in the way.

_Clothes_. Why did they have to be a universal constant?

“Uh,” he replies, finally finding his vocal chords. His incredible, beautiful, perfect vocal chords, hot _damn_. 

“Is that a yes.”

He shrugs. “I mean, we kinda just started being… whatever it is we are.”

“So?”

“We technically started doing whatever the fuck this is, like, an hour ago. I dunno, but I think this counts as moving too fast?”

“Is it uncomfortably fast?”

“No. That’s what’s bothering me.”

He glances away, so you decide the only course of action is to push him down on the bed and start kissing him. He shoves at you, flipping you over and just lying on your chest.

Why.

Why this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is smut, i promise


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you asked for smut and i delivered. it was gonna happen eventually anyways. enjoy your sausage fest.

You’re nervous. 

You’re really fucking nervous, which is why you’re spending every effort you possibly can to avoid going into this.

Holy fuck.

Dave _wants_ you. Dave wants to _have sex_ with you. He _likes_ you. You’re lying on his chest, close to hyperventilating, because, wow, you, Karkat Vantas, have a super attractive boyfriend, who is so _not_ grossed out by you, he wants to _bury himself in you_.

Your face flushes at the thought and you glance up at a very grumpy looking Dave.

“I'm sorry,” you whisper, so quiet you almost don’t hear yourself. Dave does though, and his expression changes. 

“No biggie. Just, if you ain’t cool with it right now, d’ya mind moving?”

“Hell no,” you reply, shifting so you’re straddling him. “I am determined to see this through. So, do we just, what, strip and hope we don’t get minor panic attacks at the sudden appearance of alien junk?”

Dave smirks at that, sitting up on his elbows. “I'm not the one who gets panic attacks, Kitten.”

“Fuck off,” you mutter, playing with the hem of your sweater. Dave grins at you and shoves at you lightly. You climb off him, sitting cross-legged at the end of the concupisc- bed. At the end of the _bed_.

Dave yanks his shirt off over his head. You proceed to do the same. He tugs his pants down to his knees, so you grab them and yank them off entirely, exposing his ugly, horrible smuppet boxers.

Why.

You reach for your own jeans but Dave grabs them before you, batting your hands away lightly. He undoes your button, yanks down the zip and slides your jeans down your legs without a problem. You flush, partially because your hands are shaking so bad you would’ve fucked that up more than him, and partially because he tickled your crotch with the tips of his fingers and you may have let a small moan out.

You kick off your shoes and force your jeans and socks off with your feet, hooking your fingers in the waistband of your boxers.

“So, do we just, I ‘unno, yank ‘em off at the same time or?” Dave stutters, glancing at you shyly. 

You nod, getting up on your knees to make it easier for yourself. Dave mimics your position, face blushing almost at bright as yours. You make eye contact and shove your boxers down. Dave pulls his down as well and then you drop your gaze to stare at each others genitalia.

Well.

His is really stiff. And big. And totally not flexible.

Uh.

“Dave. I don’t think it’ll fit.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nook. Uh. I mean, my nook is built to fit, you know, _troll_ bulges. Which are a hell of a lot more flexible than yours looks.”

“Can we still try?”

You nod, slightly unsure. Dave tuts at you, moving closer to you. He picks you up so you’re sitting on him. You bulge curls around his and he gasps, leaning his head against your shoulder. 

You’re sitting very stiffly on his legs, letting your bulge feel him up. He’s moaning and rutting against you, which gives some friction for your nook. Which is aching. Like, a _lot_.

“Dave,” you trill. When the fuck did you start trilling? Stupid mating noises.

“Mm,” he replies, rocking his hips under you.

“Can you… try to get it… you know?”

He nods, reaching down to untangle your bulge from his. He holds it against your stomach, squeezing it teasingly. You whimper in reply, so he kisses you. Dave flips you over gently, nuzzling at your neck. You curl one hand around the back of his head and he kisses you again. 

He shifts down a little, biting at your collar bone. You arch a little into him, but he’s holding down your hips, so there’s only so far you can go. The head of his weird, stiff bulge rubs against the bottom of your bulge, teasing the very edges of your nook and you keen, trying desperately to find some friction for your aching nook. 

“Dave, please,” you whine, rutting against his bulge. A kind of growly moan comes out of his mouth and he bites at your ear.

“Say it,” he hisses. You keen again, arching uselessly against him.

“Please, holy fuck, Dave, please, fuck me, please please _please,”_ you moan, desperately moving against him, the concupiscent platform, anything. 

He starts to sink into you, slowly. You’re already aroused, so with all the pre-genetic material surrounding your nook, and with how your nook has relaxed with arousal, growing slightly wider, getting Dave in you is less of a problem than you thought it would be. At least, for the first couple thrusts. 

He gets himself buried in so your hips are touching and you curl your legs around him, holding him close. Dave tries to start moving, but you hold him still.

“Let me… fuck. Let me adjust. Fucking mammal.”

“Guilty on both counts, officer,” he mumbles, nipping at your jaw. You shift slightly, drawing a soft sound from his lips. 

“Ok, I’m ready,” you whisper. Dave nods, getting his hands under him. He pulls out of you, just slightly, before ramming back in. You gasp and Dave stops mid-pull.

“Was that ok?”

“Keep going,” you hiss. Dave grins, then pulls out and rams in again. You yelp each time he does it, losing yourself in the rhythm of his hips, in, out, in, out.

“Faster,” you keen, jerking up to meet him mid-thrust. He complies, ramming into you, faster, harder.

“Karkat,” he groans, coming to a finish. He comes inside of you and you whimper when he pulls out.

“Sorry,” he mumbles. You keen and thrust your hips desperately at him. He glares at your bulge, curling desperately against your stomach before he grabs it and moves down between your legs.

“Dave!” you yell, fighting to draw your legs together. He glances up at you, face flushed.

“What,” he asks. “I haven’t got a shark mouth, remember?”

“Still,” you mumble. 

“Ok, fine,” he says, shoving a finger into your nook. You keen and rut down against it, so he inserts a second and _curls_ them and holy fuck, he’s rubbing the underside of your bulge. He leans up to press a kiss against your grubscars, nip at your gills and then you’re gone, orgasm taking over as you yell his name desperately, so completely lost in sensation. 

“I think we might need to alchemize you a new mattress,” Dave says, grinning. You glower at him and pull him up for a kiss, bulge sheathing itself again. Dave’s just remains hanging out. Wow is that weird.

_Aliens_. 

Dave grabs the surprisingly clean blankets and pillows and throws them on the floor before grabbing you and curling around you, forcing you to become the little spoon. You huff and let yourself relax against him.

He whispers something soft.

You think he said “I love you.”

You whisper back, “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i bothers me that this might the longest chapter so far...


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay. ive been uninspired and its been a pain to catch up on school work, so. heres a chapter i wrote in about an hour. you're welcome.

Karkat’s not there when you wake up. You’re a little disappointed, but you guess he went to take a shower.

Now you’re disappointed that he didn’t invite you to join him. 

You get to your feet and begin to look for your clothes. Boxers on the floor next to the bed, hidden under Karkat’s jeans. Undershirt tangled in the blanket pile. Your sweatpants are lying on the floor near his empty ‘coon.

You can’t find your t-shirt though. Your cape and hood are lying around, but your t-shirt is missing.

Karkat walks in, grumbling, still bleary eyed and sleepy. He collapses in the pile of blankets on the floor.

“Morning,” you say. He ignores you, pulling a blanket up over his head.

“You’re wearing my shirt,” you tell him, squatting next to the pile to try and coax him out of it. A single middle finger worms its way out to point at you.

“Do you want breakfast?” you ask the retreating finger. The blankets around Karkat’s head shift and he sits up, glaring at you.

Your shirt is massive on him, revealing his sharp angular collar bone, baring his small round shoulder, and you can see all the hickeys you left on him last night, little red marks covering his neck, marking a trail down his collar to somewhere under the t-shirt. 

“Will you please shut up and come here. It’s too fucking early to do anything but sleep,” he growls, raising his arms like a toddler asking to be carried. You smirk and let him pull you into the pile, carding your fingers through his hair when he finally settles against your chest.

You can feel him buzzing.

“Vantas, I need to piss,” you inform him. He whines and buries his face in the crook of your neck.

“Vantas, please.”

“Fuck off,” he mumbles, breath puffing out against your ear.

Well then. You guess you’re trapped until he falls asleep. You scratch at his head, listen as his breathing slows, then very slowly slip out from under him. 

You stand over him, wondering whether you should steal your shirt back or not. You decide not too, partially because it looks better on him than it does on you, and partially because, hey, you’ve still got your undershirt, you won’t be giving any faint hearted people heart attacks due to the extreme attractiveness of your upper torso. 

Apparently, though, you could’ve walked out naked had you been so inclined. The common room is empty and you’re free to get shitty coffee in whichever mug you want. You take Rose’s favorite one just to piss her off.

You slide into one of the seats near the big ol’ table and sip at your coffee. It needs sugar and milk, but you’re too lazy to find any, so you’ll just drink it black. You’re a man now, you can manage.

Terezi struts into the room, grinning from ear to ear when she smells you sitting alone at the table. She slides in next to you, cackling.

“So, you smell like you had fun last night,” she teases, leaning her head on your shoulder.

“ _You_ look like you survived a blender,” you reply. She growls at you, poking you warningly in the cheek with one of her horns. You shrug.

“What, I thought we were stating the obvious.”

“Is he any good?” she asks, changing the subject. 

“He’s fucking incredible,” you reply. “Why, getting tired of your other black partner?”

“Fuck off. I told you, I don’t want to talk about him,” she growls, sitting up and glaring a little to the left of you. You touch her face and she corrects her gaze so it’s kinda looking at you.

“Drop him. I’ll even let you go after Karkat, if you want, but leave the goddamn clown.”

“You'll drop your whole quadrant hating thing?”

“It's been a while, I think it’s about time I started being a little more culturally sensitive.”

“Hehe, good for you! So if I drop Gamzee, I get Karkat?”

“If he wants you, sure.”

Terezi gets up, grinning at you. 

“Where are you going?” you ask, giving her a look over your shades. She takes a long sniff, smiling in ecstasy.

“I swear to fuck, sometimes I worry that you only dated me because of my eyes.”

“Did you actually think I dated you for anything else? Now stop distracting me! I have to tell a certain somebody to shove his foot up his nook, and dump someone else!”

“Go get ‘em girl. Also when Karkat wakes up, tell him I want my shirt back,” you yell at her, as she waltzes towards the transportalizer. She winks at you as the pad flashes green and then she’s gone.

Goddammit, now your coffee’s cold.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy two chapters in less than a month! you're fucking welcome. (thank god for holidays)

With Dave’s advice in mind, you’re darting through the halls, cackling as you trot. You don’t care how loud you’re being, Rose and Kanaya are probably louder and the only other people this side of the meteor are either awake or potential black partners. 

You decide your first course of action is to find Karkat. Dave said he was still sleeping so all you have to do is kick his ass out of bed and tell him you’re dumping the clown. You’re pretty sure they’re not quadranted anymore, so you’re free to attack and maim that stupid abusive asshole without any pissy mutants trying to similarly attack and maim you. 

You waltz into Karkat’s room, grinning as you kick the pile of blankets on the floor.

“Rise and shine, sleeping ugly!” you yell, poking Karkat’s back with your cane. He flips you off, pulling the blankets closer to him. It’s kind of adorable, the way he’s building a nest around him, but it’s also pretty pathetic, so you file away the memory so you can make fun of him later! 

“Come on, Mr Candyapple, we have things to do,” you say, wiggling your eyebrows suggestively. He’s not looking though, so you huff and flop on top of him. 

“Aren’t you the perfect gentleman, making the poor little blind girl beg for it?” you sigh, pouting at the blob of curly licorice in front of you.

“Damn straight I’m gonna make you beg for it,” he mumbles, shoving at you lightly. “‘Sides, aren’t you still with that idiot clown?”

“Nope! Well, technically, yes, but I’m breaking up with him as soon I get you out of this pile!”

He groans and shifts. “Then get off me so I can get up,” he growls, jabbing an elbow in your relative direction. You hum in thought, digging your bony ass into his shoulder, before deciding that he does make a very good case. You stand up and turn around to smell the pile fall apart and a little blob of grey and red emerge from it.

“There, I’m up, go away,” he mumbles. You wonder if he’s wearing anything under Dave’s shirt. Youdecide to investigate.

“Woah, what the fuck, Terezi!” he shrieks, voice gaining pitch, as you shove him against the wall, groping around to find his soft, plush ass. Aw, it’s clothed. You frown. 

“I will fix the issue of you wearing clothes later,” you promise, grinning when you smell that familiar red bloom across his cheeks. You lick him and the bloom grows, which is really just more encouragement for you to lick him. He shoves at your shoulders and glares at you.

“Go break up with Gamzee and then I’ll maybe consider your black advances,” he says, huffing.

He has a fair point, and that upsets you because that’s twice he’s been right in less than half an hour and it’s really disconcerting. Did he suddenly get really smart without your noticing?

You decide that you’re going to go break up with a clown, and maybe when you’re done with that, your stupid idiot will be back to being exactly that. Stupid. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so i kno most of u r just here for the davekat but i promise, this is just going to be a very minor ship. for the sake of plot building. and kinky threesomes. mostly threesomes.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's this? another chapter?

Terezi’s proposition has you stuck sitting in the common room, trying desperately not to think about it as the main protagonist in the book you’re reading gets teased to the edge by her matesprit and her kismesis. You wonder if Dave and Terezi would do that for you. You quickly squash the thought.Goddamnit, but now you can’t stop thinking about it.

Dave’s hands on you, grabbing and groping, gentle and firm and so perfectly him and the Terezi, all angles, clawing at you, fighting for dominance as she bites at your neck. Terezi holding you down, growling threats and insults at you while Dave strokes your bulge and nook, whispering soft assurances to you and watching you with those eyes. 

You throw your book across the room.

You can’t be thinking about this.

You aren’t thinking about this.

That is not a thing that is happening.

You decide you need some air and are about to leave when Rose walks in.

_Shit_.

“Oh, hello Karkat. You were just the person I was hoping to run into,” she says, grinning slyly as she slides into a seat next to you.

You wish you could vanish into thin air.

Sadly, you are a pointless Blood player, instead of the far more practical Wind.

“What do you want, Lalonde?”

“Well, it’s my duty as Dave’s ecto-sister to threaten you on the off-chance that you end up breaking my precious siblings' fragile heart.”

“You're fucking kidding me.”

“I wish I was, but you see, Dave did perform the same deed when Kanaya announced her matespritship with me, and you walking around in Dave’s clothes does seem to be a rather blatant announcement of a newly born relationship.”

You have no words to reply to that. You sit there with your mouth open for a while, before closing it and giving Rose the best glare you can muster.

“I won’t hurt your ecto-sibling,” you manage and Rose seems pleased with your answer.

“Thank you. If, however, you fall back on that, I will be forced to rip out your insides through your nostrils and leave them hanging around the meteor as a warning. Human customs and all. Good bye!”

With that she prances off to wherever, leaving you wondering what god you angered so much that the only fitting torture they could find was to leave you stranded with a bunch of psychos.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rose is such fun to write


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woot woot more smut

You’re sitting around in your room, dicking around on your guitar when Karkat storms in. 

“ _You_ ,” he growls, in that way he likes to think is menacing but is actually 100% adorable. 

“What about me?” you ask, setting your guitar aside.

“You asshole! You’re the one who set Terezi on me! And then I had to deal with your psycho _sister,_ who I, up until this point, used to be rather fond of,” he yells, voice raising in pitch with exasperation. You swear his voice breaks a few times.

“Chill, babe, I only set Terezi on you cuz of the clown,” you say, smirking. He glares at you, so you open your arms.

Adorable little ball of fury he is, he comes barreling into your chest, tucking his face in your neck, arms wrapped around your midsection.

You press a kiss against his horn and he buries himself further against your neck. 

“I wanna play guitar,” he mumbles, mouthing at your neck.

“Ok,” you reply, not sure exactly what else he wants you to say. He sits up, glaring at you.

“I'm still mad at you, though.”

“Yep.”

He climbs off your lap, seemingly satisfied with your answer. He grabs your guitar, strumming pointlessly a few times before he decides what he wants to play. At first, you don’t hear him. But then you do, and you feel a tiny bubble of jealously emerge. Goddamn him and his soft, suave voice.

_"Keep you in the dark_

_You know they all pretend_

_Keep you in the dark_

_And so it all began”_

You put your hand on Karkat’s arm before he plays the aggressive fast bit. 

“This is a two guitar song,” you tell him. He cocks an eyebrow at you.

“So? We only have one guitar.”

“Let's go make another.”

“No.”

You pout at him but he goes back to picking at the strings of the guitar. Fine, if that’s how he wants to play it. You’ve got your own ways of getting what you want. You slip behind him and press your mouth against his neck, feel the sounds as well as hear them when he starts singing something else. 

_“We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith_

_Swelled up from the rain, clouds move like a wraith_

_Well after all, we'll lie another day_

_And through it all, we'll find some other way“_

His voice catches when you nip at the sensitive skin under his ear, but he keeps singing.

_“To carry on, through cartilage and fluid_

_And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?”_

He curses when your fingers start kneading at his grubscars through the shirt he’s wearing that is actually yours. Currently, you don’t care if he keeps it. He looks good in your clothes. 

_“Well tonight, well tonight_

_Will it ever come?_

_Spend the rest of your days rocking out_

_Just for the dead”_

He stutters and nearly drops your guitar when your hands travel down towards his bulge.

_"Well tonight_

_Will it ever come?_

_I can see you awake anytime, in my head”_

He keens when your hand cups his bonesheath. He stops playing, arching back against you, rutting desperately against your hand.

“Sh, keep playing. You stop playing, and _I_ stop playing.”

He nods and finds the chords again, sloppily picking up where he left off. 

_“Did we all fall down?_

_Did we all fall down?”_

Your hand starts kneading against his bulge again, your other hand reaching down into his boxers to rub against his nook. His breathing gets heavier, his voice a little rougher as he grates the next few lines. 

_"Did we all fall down?_

_Did we all fall down?”_

He cries out, arching back aggressively as the last word leaves his mouth. You grin, twisting your fingers harshly in him and he whimpers, desperately grinding against your hands. You force yourself to still your fingers.

“Keep singing, Karks,” you growl and he whines and shoots a glare over his shoulder at you before strumming again.

_“From the lights to the pavement_

_From the van to the floor”_

He sighs in relief when your fingers start moving again, bringing him back up to the edge. You have the distinct feeling this song is nearly over and you’re determined to make him finish before then.

_“From backstage to the doctor”_

You start stroking his bulge earnestly, fingers relentlessly twisting and turning inside his nook.

_"From the Earth to the morgue, morgue, morgue, morgue”_

He screams the last word, gushing red all over your hands. A little moan escapes his lips when you pull your fingers out. 

“Didn't say you could stop,” you tease. He pouts at you.

“Maybe if you stopped distracting me, I wouldn’t stop,” he replies, shifting uncomfortably. He’s stained your sheets, but you don’t really give a shit. He huffs, mumbling something about how there’s only one stupid chorus left. 

_"Well tonight_

_Will it ever come?_

_Spend the rest of your days rocking out_

_Just for the dead_

_Well tonight_

_Will it ever come?_

_I can see you awake anytime in my head_

_All fall down_

_Well after all…"_

He trails off, strumming awkwardly when he doesn’t know how to end. 

“Ahem,” he mutters. You grin at him. “You wanted to get another guitar?” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song is Desert Song by My Chemical Romance in case u didnt know.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy 413 y'all! Here's more smut.

You’re walking down the hall with Dave strolling by your side, your hand trapped in his, when you hear the sounds of definite yelling. Well, you guess Terezi’s sorting out her clown problems. You hope to damn that she hurries up so you can finally make some kind of advance on her that doesn’t end up in quadrant confusion and definite heartbreak. 

Dave tugs you away from the shouting, towards the room all the alchemizing stuff is stored. You go willingly, if only because hearing your ex-moirails voice feels like a stab in the chest. You walk over to the alchemiter and Dave get’s it all set up, putting in the code one-handed. You’re kind of glad. His hand is warm, a pleasant contrast to how cold the meteor is. 

“What color do you want? You’d look pretty hot with a flaming red guitar, black strap or something. We should alchemize you a whole new outfit as well, holy crap, yes, ok, I’m doing this,” he rants, grinning at your frustrated expression.

“Fuck off, you bulgelick. Just give me a simple black guitar. And no outfits. Kanaya’s getting on my case enough, I don’t need you to start annoying the hell out of me too,” you groan. 

He snorts, fumbling with a couple more things before, zap, you have a new guitar. He puts in the code for an amp as you march over to grab your new instrument, absent-mindedly strumming a few chord patterns.

To be completely honest, you found it ridiculously easy to pick up. Sure, for the first couple of practices, you had trouble learning the chords, or putting your fingers in the right places, but once Dave had told you what to do, how to move your fingers, how to hold the guitar, you’d found it so simple. He’d complain about how it hurt his fingers at first, but your hands have always been calloused, so rough you’d sometimes slit your palms open with a bad twirl of your sickles and you wouldn’t know until you saw the blood dripping. 

You captchalogue the guitar, getting up so you can wrap your arms around Dave, burying your face in between his shoulder blades. Fuck him for being taller than you.

Fuck _everyone_ for being taller than you.

You wonder if you should return the favor he so eagerly performed for you.

You’re tempted, you’ll admit, to see him come undone.

“Hey Dave,” you growl, going up on your toes so you can nip at his ear. He hisses, but doesn’t move away. 

“Wassup babe,” he replies, fingers moving deftly across the alchemiter controls, punching in the code for a lead. 

“Nothing,” you reply, your hands snaking down his chest. “Just bored. Hurry the fuck up, I wanna go back to your room soon.” You pointedly rub at those protrusions on his chest he’s so shy about. He bites his lip and his cheeks are started to look a little pink.

“Karks, what the fuck are you doin?” he asks, shifting away from your touch when your hand travels down to rub against the front of his sweatpants.

“Returning the favor,” you reply, nuzzling at his neck. He swallows a moan; you can feel his Adam’s apple bob. Humans are _weird_.

You carry on rubbing him through his pants, feeling him slowly stiffen against your ministrations.

“Hey, Kat, stop distracting me, if I get this done we can actually go back to my room and-” 

You cut him off by sticking two fingers in his mouth. He groans around them, sucking at your digits diligently. You smirks, tugging his pants down with your free hand. 

Your claws are pretty damn sharp and you don’t want them to accidentally hurt him when you can’t see what you’re doing too well. Your teeth, on the other hand, those you can cover.

You slip in front of him, sliding down to your knees as you drag his clothes down with you. You can smell his desperation, and look up to grin at him through his stupid shades.

He’s completely fixated on you.

Good.

You lean forward and press a kiss against the tip of his shaft. He gasps, a small tiny thing you would’ve missed, but you were listening for it. He moves one hand to grasp at your hair, tugging slightly.

You suck a little more of him into your mouth, minding your teeth. You lap at the head of his dick, probing at the slit. You make a face at the taste, but whatever, it’s not entirely unpleasant. 

You carry on sucking and licking, slowly taking more and more of him into your mouth. His breathing keeps pitching higher, higher, until he’s finally making noises, little moans and gasps, tiny whispers of your name.

You wrap your fingers around what you couldn’t fit in your mouth and bob your head, once, twice. You start off a slow rhythm, enjoying the way Dave’s fingers flex and twist in your hair, better indicators of his enjoyment than his face, which, in spite of being bright red, is still totally deadpan.

You suck a little harder, determined to get him to break his stupid mask, probing and encouraging and pushing him along, dragging him closer and closer to the edge. He whimpers and leans forward, resting the hand that isn’t flexing teasingly close to your horn against the machinery in front of him. 

You force yourself to keep your eyes on his face, watching as he finally, _finally_ , lets go of that stupid facade and throws his head back, grinding into your face, desperate and beautiful. You smile, however awkwardly, pumping your hand as well as bobbing your head a little harder, feeling him, _tasting_ him, getting closer, closer…

He comes in your mouth, which is gross, but the look on his face afterwards is totally worth it. You swallow. 

“Fuck,” he whispers. 

“Fuck,” you reply.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi, my entire knowledge of oral sex is from what ive read. you're welcome to tell me if i got everything wrong.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lazy chapter cuz im lazy. next chapter is already half-written. ALSO CANON DAVEKAT CANON DAVEKAT!!!!!!

The two of you are walking back to your room, Karkat tucked firmly against your side, your arm secured around his waist. 

You can’t believe he sucked you off.

You can’t _believe_ he sucked you off.

You want to throw him on your bed and fuck his brains out, and you also want to cuddle him and kiss him and show him how much you adore him, and you have no idea which idea is more tempting.

From the looks of it though, Karkat could do with getting fucked. He’s got a bright blush on his cheeks, dusting his ears and his neck a soft pink too, and you want to get your lips on him, so you do, shoving him against the wall and biting at his neck. 

He cries out, arching up against you, and yep, you were right, he’s ridiculously horny and you can’t wait to do _things_ to him, and he looks like he can’t wait for you to do things to _him_ , his gaze is smoldering and you feel like you’re going to melt. 

And then.

_And then_.

Who should turn up but Terezi _fucking_ Pyrope, grinning and cackling as she walks down the hall, cane tapping uselessly against the metal floor as she approaches the two of you. Karkat groans, digging his palms into his eyes and you snort, because Terezi made it very clear to you that she also wanted to have sex with Karkat, and you don’t see the problem with teaming up on him.

Huh.

You really have changed a lot since you started adjusting to troll culture.

“Did you really start without me?” she whines, frowning at the two of you.

“And we were _so_ close to finishing too,” Karkat grumbles, letting his hands drop to his sides. You step back a bit, curious to see how they’ll react around each other.

Terezi freaking throws herself at Karkat, slamming him against the wall and shredding his lips with her crazy teeth. You shift a little so you can see Karkat give as good as he’s getting, fisting his hands in her hair and gnawing on her upper lip. 

“So, um, am I allowed to join in too, or should I just go?” you ask, a little awkwardly, because there’s no physical way to ask this in a way that’s _not_ awkward. They pull apart, Karkat looking at you with desperation and Terezi regarding your general vicinity with mild amusement. 

“You get behind him,” Terezi orders, yanking Karkat roughly off the wall, and he growls and bites her neck and wow, ok, you’re behind him in a second, your hands teasing him under his shirt and playing with his grubscars. He whines and arches up against you, and Terezi takes advantage of his position to yank his jeans down and grab his bulge. 

“Sh-shit, fuck, no not here,” he whimpers, pushing Terezi roughly off of him. She looks vaguely disappointed, wiping her hand clean on her jeans, leaving a nice big smudge of red across her thigh. 

You help Karkat pull his pants on and then just scoop him into your arms. He curls his arms around your neck, nuzzling your shoulder affectionately. So. Fucking. Cute. 

Terezi looks upset that she can’t physically antagonize him, so she starts off down the hall, towards Karkat’s room. 

“You look pathetic curled up like that,” she growls.

“At least I’m comfortable,” he hisses, curling up tighter against you. You snort.

“Man, you look adorable. So tiny and frustrated,” you chip in. He head butts you in the chin with his tiny horns, so you kiss the top of one of them. 

“Ew, get a pile,” Terezi whines, pinching her nose. “You smell so sweet and affectionate it’s gross.”

“Fuck off, Pyrope, that isn’t even a real thing,” Karkat mumbles, shifting so he can rest his head comfortably on your shoulder. “Also, can we hurry up? My bulge is going to sheathe itself soon and I kinda wanna get off some time today.”

You and Terezi exchange glances, and then purposely slow down, strolling down the hall like you have all the time in the world. Karkat punches your shoulder. 

“Ok, fuck this, put me down! I’ll just get myself off, since both of you are incompetent fucks at everything concupiscent and I’m not even sure why I bothered in the first place,” he rants, squirming and pushing his way out of your arms. He’s kind of hard to hold like this, so you drop his legs, supporting his back so he doesn’t fall. He pats your chest in thanks before marching off down the hall.

“He's not actually gonna get off,” you say, glancing over at Terezi. She nods.

“He's probably just gonna stew until we show up,” she replies, shrugging and continuing her slow pace, grinning as she walks. You walk beside her.

“What should we do to him?” you ask her. 

“I’m guessing you figured out how _kinky_ he is?” she giggles, rubbing her hands together like she’s plotting. “I say we hold him down and do to him as we please.”

“That-“ you stop, humming. “That actually sounds like a pretty good plan.”

“Hehe, _duh_ , I am the master of good plans.”

The two of you pause, and then hurry on after Karkat, both excited for what’s to come.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woot woot another chapter. apologies for the length, i had a math exam and just wanted to get something posted, in light of davekat season having approached.

Your face flushes when Dave and Terezi walk in, two fingers in your nook, bulge curled around your wrist, kneeling on the floor with a bucket between your legs. Dave looks slightly disappointed while Terezi just looks frustrated. She walks over and grabs you, throwing you on the concupiscent platform, pulling out some rope from her sylladex.

You sit up abruptly, pulling your knees to your bare chest. “Woah, _woah_ , what the fuck Terezi?” 

She sits down at the end of the bed, tracing a claw up your calf. “We're going to tie you up and fuck with you,” she states. 

“Do I get a say in this?” you whimper, exasperated. 

“Course you do, babe,” Dave whispers, kissing your temple. He pulls off his shades and tucks them away in his sylladex. “Not gonna force you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, ok?” he tells you, shooting Terezi a warning glance. 

She huffs, slouching. “You're no _fun_.”

You nod, pulling yourself closer to Dave. He pulls you onto his lap, kissing the top of your head. 

Your bulge is still out, squirming uncomfortably against your stomach. You cough. 

“Um,” you start. Terezi sits up a little straighter. “I mean, I guess you can, uh. Tie me up. If you want.”

“Yes! I told you he was into it!” Terezi screeches, cackling in delight. Ow, fucking hell, her voice is grating on your aural clots in all the worst ways, fuck. 

“Stop screaming, fuck,” you hiss, swiping at her with one clawed foot. She grabs it, pulling you off of Dave and sprawled out on the platform. She tosses some rope at Dave, smiling in the most horrifying way. 

How the fuck your past self found her attractive is beyond you.

“You get his wrists, I’ll get his feet,” Terezi states, tying your left ankle to the corresponding bed post. 

Dave leans over you, grabbing one wrist gently.

“You sure you’re ok with this?” he asks, looking at you with those soft gentle eyes.

“Dave, for fucks sake, don’t go soft on me. You held me down the first time we made out, this isn’t that much different.”

“Fine, but if anything hurts or is uncomfortable…”

You sigh. “I'll tell you. I know. Shut up and tie me up already. My bulge is going to just shrivel up and die at this rate.”

He snorts, flicking your nose, before tying you to the bed.

Spread-eagled like this, you feel entirely exposed, but with the way Terezi and Dave have bound you, you can’t move to cover yourself at _all_. Surprisingly, none of the ropes cinch too painfully when you tug at them. You guess Terezi was slightly intimidated by Dave’s protectiveness. 

Either that or she’s got worse planned for you. 

You don’t know whether that thought turns you on more, or terrifies you. 

You don’t have time to figure it out either, because Dave is tracing a finger over your bulge. You moan, trying to buck up into his hand with no avail. 

Terezi laughs at your pathetic attempts to move. You growl at her. 

You immediately regret that when she bites down on your neck. Your growl turns into a whimper as she bruises your collar bone, marking you across your jawline, down your chest. She teases against your gills, and with Dave’s fingers steadily applying pressure to your bulge you feel like you’re gonna explode right then and there.

Apparently, Dave notices, because his fingers tighten around the base of your bulge. 

“Can you hold out for a little longer?” he asks, massaging your nook. You nod, sharply, clenching your jaw, because, _fuck_ , you’re so fucking close, but you can do this. For Dave. 

You could probably do anything for him. 

Terezi rakes a claw against your grubscars and you have to bite down on your lip to stop yourself from screaming. Oh fuck, oh _fuck_.

“Hm,” Terezi hums, biting at your ear. You jerk your head away from hers, snarling in her face. “You smell good when you’re desperate.”

Dave snorts, fucking you with two fingers, and oh _god_ , he’s hitting all the right places, fuck, fuck, _fuck._ You squirm as much as you can, which isn’t a lot, but everything is sensitive, and you’re _so close_.

“I think, I think I’m gonna,” you start, breathing heavy. Dave kisses you, once, short and sweet. 

“Go ahead,” he whispers. You throw Terezi a look, but she looks excited for it too, and then Dave’s fingers twist in you again, Terezi’s fingers squeezing your grubscars almost painfully, and you’re gone, you just white-out, carried entirely away with your orgasm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the black karezi, i rly love this ship, and that is very problematic.  
> also sorry for this chapter being so short. i was going to make it longer, but then i was like, they just wanna see stuff, let them see the stuff.  
> (btw, im writing a thing on wattpad under the username fukmylyf. its got my own characters nd everything, updates semi-regularly, and follows the relationship between a depressed trans boy and his bubbly girlfriend)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter with smut as an apology for the last short just smut chapter. the next chapter is gonna be intense though. expect emotions.

When you come to again, your hands are already untied, and you’re tucked up against Dave, his fingers rubbing at your wrists. 

“That was really hot,” he tells you, kissing at your bruised jaw. You’re still panting, Terezi working at untying your ankle from the bed.

“I have to reluctantly agree with Dave here. It _was_ kind of hot,” she muses, tugging the rope away from your ankle and giving it a light rub before pinching the sensitive skin between your toes. You claw at her face with your free foot in retribution, leaving it resting on her shoulder. 

“I'm gonna go to sleep,” you tell them, shifting a little against Dave.

“Nope,” he says, pulling you entirely up against him. You glare at him, comfortably scooped in his arms.

“That was intense, now I’m tired, I’m going to sleep.”

“You're covered in your own genetic material, and that’s gross! Also, we’re still horny, you selfish asshole,” Terezi growls, crawling over to you and Dave so she can swipe at your chest. You bat her hand away, groaning.

“I'm actually ok, so I think I’ll just leave you two to,” Dave says, pushing you off his lap. “To whatever.”

You grab his wrist and pull him down for a kiss, that ends up getting a little too deep, and he whimpers against your lips.

“‘ _Ok,'_ my ass,” you hiss, nipping at his jaw. “Just gimme a couple seconds to relax first.”

Terezi frowns at you, Dave just nodding in agreement, his face buried in your shoulder.

“We could take this to the ablution trap and kill two flapbeasts with one stone,” you muse, carding your fingers through Dave’s hair. 

Terezi doesn’t even wait, throwing your clothes at you and running to the door, impatiently waiting by outside. 

“Come _on_ , my nook needs attention and it needs it _now_ ,” she whines. 

“Actually, I was thinking of just lying here for a little while and rotting in my filth for the next two hours before I got up,” you tease, smirking at her. She snarls at you, bouncing up and down and shifting uncomfortably. 

You pick Dave up, with a little bit of difficulty, and drop him next to you. He huffs at you, punching you in the arm and you stick your tongue out at him, pulling your clothes on. He helps you, pulling your jeans up as you pull your sweater down from where it caught on your horns, Terezi ‘watching’ the entire time. 

Fully dressed, the two of you stand up, hand in hand, and stroll leisurely towards the door. 

Well, not really, because you can see the tent in Dave’s pants, and it’s getting you excited again, which is ridiculous, because you _just came,_ but you’re pretty sure that if things go the way you think they’re gonna go, you’ll have that inside you soon.

Of course, you have to make it to the ablution trap first. 

The three of you engage in a really awkward race, which you of course win, partly due to you being faster than them at running (being ridiculously light has its advantages) and partly due to the fact that you aren’t unsheathed, unlike Terezi, and you don’t have a friggin pole trying to climb out of your pants, unlike Dave. 

You burst into the ablution block, so _fucking_ lucky its empty. You strip down faster than you have ever stripped before and climb into the trap, turning on the spray. It’s cold, and you scream, spluttering and standing as far away from the ice water as you can.

Dave and Terezi shove their way into the block just as the water starts heating up, nearly falling flat on their faces. You snort, because it’s kinda funny, the way they’re so horny they can barely coordinate themselves. 

It’s also _really fucking hot,_ because you know you’re the reason they’re like that. 

They strip as fast as you did, your clothes all a pile on the floor, and you quickly wash off the genetic material on your belly before they climb in.

Dave manages to get in first, and he grabs your face roughly, mashing his lips against yours. You wrap your arms around his neck, and he grabs your waist, pulling you up against him so your toes are barely brushing the floor. 

Terezi makes her presence known by grabbing your ass and slicking her bulge along your crack. You yelp against Dave’s lips, pulling away to glare at Terezi. 

“What the fuck, no, we’re not doing it like that,” you yell, turning around. Dave whines at you so you pat his face softly to shut him up. 

“We’ll do it like this,” you state, grinding your ass against Dave’s dick. “I can take your bulge, Terezi takes mine, and if you really need it,” you continue, poking Terezi in the cheek. “You can stick your bulge up my nook as well.”

Both of them give you a worried look. You huff and roll your eyes, face a bright cherry red in spite of how ‘in control of the situation’ you’re trying to appear.

“Your bulge isn’t massive, ‘Rezi, I’m pretty sure I can take it,” you growl. 

“Are you sure, babe? You don’t have to-“ 

“Dave. Shut the fuck up. Would I recommend it if I _didn’t_ think I could pull it off?”

“Yes, actually,” Terezi pipes. “But whatever, if you _really_ think you can do it, go ahead. I’m not stopping you.”

“Dave?” you ask, glancing over your shoulder. He still looks apprehensive. You sigh. 

You turn around and press a light kiss to his lips, before going up on your toes to whisper in his ear, “I'm fine, really.”

It’s his turn to huff, but he nods. “If you say so.”

You turn back around and jerk your ass at Dave playfully. He snorts and picks you up, lining the head of his dick up with your nook before very carefully sliding you onto him. You trill, because _wow_ , that will never stop feeling weird, because it hits you in all the right places _at the same fucking time_.

You’re already panting by the time Dave is completely in you, and then you remember Terezi, and she bites you on the shoulder and you arch against her, and Dave’s dick hits _something_ , and oh god, oh god, _fuck_ , you feel incredible.

“Vantas,” Terezi growls, licking the blood off the wound she’s made on your shoulder. You gasp at the sensation, and Dave kisses your temple, and wow, when did you get so lucky. “Karkat!”

She slaps you across the chest and you open your eyes and glare at her. 

“What?” you whine, tugging her closer with your arms. The second she’s flush against you, you wrap your legs around her waist. 

“Your bulge, my nook, unless Dave’s dick is so good that you can’t function anymore,” she snarks, and you claw at her back, your bulge squirming past hers and flicking against her nook. She shuts up, burying her face in your injured shoulder, Dave kissing the other one just because he can.

“Hurry up and get in her so we can start moving already,” he hisses, nipping at your ear. A moan escapes your lips and you nod, teasing Terezi’s entrance gently before deciding, fuck it, she’s wet and horny, she can take it, and sliding in completely.

She growls against your shoulder, and all your instincts are screaming “ANGRY TROLL NEAR OPEN WOUND _ANGRY TROLL NEAR OPEN WOUND_ ABORT ABORT ABORT!!!” but fuck, you could care less, and with how turned on you are, the threat makes it all the better.

“Go,” you hiss, and Dave starts bucking against you, and you’re trilling again, one hand leaving Terezi’s clawed up shoulder (when did that happen?) to tangle itself in Dave’s hair.

Both of them are panting your name and Dave sounds like he’s close (because, fuck, all of you are close) but.

“Terezi,” you manage, your voice low and scratchy with sex. You, fortunately, don’t have to say anymore, because Terezi’s bulge, previously trapped between the two of you and squirming uncomfortably, is taken in her hand and guided lower. It brushes past the base of your bulge, and you bite back a moan, before coming to your already stuffed nook.

Holy _fuck_.

Her bulge is tapered, like yours, and it’s just gently prying at your entrance, nudging in past Dave. It squirms in even further, and oh god, you’ve never been stretched like this before, and it’s uncomfortable bordering on painful but also _oh so fucking good_ , and you want more. 

“Ah, keep, keep going,” you hiss, arching up, or trying to, but you’re trapped between your kismesis and your matesprit-boyfriend-whatever, and you feel abso-fucking-lutely incredible.

Terezi’s bulge gets in you as far as it can, and they let you settle, Dave leaning against the wall of the trap with you pinned in between him and Terezi, one of your hands in his hair, the other clinging onto Terezi’s shoulder like it’s the only thing keeping you from falling. Your legs are loosely wrapped around her non-existent waist, held in place only by one of her clawing hands. Her other hand is dug into the soft fleshy part between your hip and under your ribs. Dave is your last remaining support, one arm around your chest, his free hand glued to your ass.

He’s kneading it now, letting you adjust, but you’re fine now, so you nod, and they start moving, Dave pushing you up and down slightly, Terezi’s bulge spasming inside you, or at least shifting as much as it can, what with Dave’s thick length also stuffing you. You’re so close to coming, and you’re panting and grinding and shifting, Terezi’s nook steadily squeezing your squirming bulge, her hands teasing at your grubscars, glancing off your flaring gills. The water is starting to grow cold but none of you notice, all standing at the edge and just waiting for that final push.

Dave moves roughly in you, and you groan his name, and apparently that’s all he needed to go shooting off in you, moaning your name into your hair. 

That sets you off, as if you weren’t there already, and you come screaming some ungodly combination of Dave and Terezi’s names. 

Your nook flexing and bulge stiffening is Terezi’s cue, and she’s by far the quietest of the three of you, huffing against your ear with a soft rasp. 

Dave pulls you off of him and you try to stand properly, your feet slipping on the tiled floor, your knees wobbling from the intensity of the two orgasms you’ve experienced today. Dave keeps you steady, tugging you against him and pressing a quick kiss against your lips before shoving your head against his chest.

“We're definitely doing that again,” he whisper-says, and you nod, reaching blindly for a bar of soap so you can clean yourself up properly. 

Terezi’s using it, and you glare at her, grabbing the shampoo instead. Dave takes it out of your hands and squirts it onto your head, rubbing it in gently. You start purring, offering him a smile you’re too tired to hide, and you don’t care if Terezi thinks it’s disgustingly pale. You like how disgustingly pale it is. It’s a nice contrast to how he was fucking your brains out a few minutes before, and wow, the humans really did rub off on you, because if this was the same you as two years ago, you would’ve slapped yourself for that thought.

Dave’s fingers start scratching at your scalp, teasingly close to your horns, but you don’t mind because it feels nice.

“Do I get my hair washed too, or is Karkles the only asshole lucky enough for haircare treatment from the hair god himself?” Terezi asks. You can’t see her, but you know she’s pouting. 

“Lemme work these knots out first, and then I’ll get to you,” Dave sighs. “And damn straight I’m a god of hair; if it was an aspect, that’s what I’d be a knight of instead.”

“Probably not. You’d still be stuck with time, because you are shitty at being on time,” you grumble, purr breaking your voice and making it rougher than usual.

Terezi starts rubbing at your back with the soap. It’s overwhelmingly nice, being pampered by your two quadrant partners, and you turn around when Rezi’s done so you can snatch the soap and return the favor.

Dave finishes with your hair way too soon, and he pushes you aside in order to clean Terezi’s straight, knot-free hair. You pout and start scrubbing him with the soap instead. 

“Is it just Karkat’s hair that’s a ridiculous amount of curly or are there other trolls with hair as bad as his?” Dave asks, easily scrubbing at Terezi’s scalp. You snarl at him.

“Of course there are other trolls with curly hair, you absol-“

Terezi slaps a hand over your mouth, effectively shutting you up, so you huff and roll your eyes. 

“I have never met a troll with hair as bad as Karkat’s, no,” she says, humming in thought. “Although it’s rumored that his ancestor was as nonchalant about haircare as he is.”

Dave nods. “That makes sense. My obsession with hair was originally a way to one-up my bro as well.”

“I just keep mine neat because that’s what Legislacerators _do._ Look clean cut and professional, then act badass as hell.” 

“Nice.”

You grumble something against Terezi’s hand, your words muffled. She drops her hand, moving her head in a way that suggests she’s rolling her eyes. 

“Thank you very fucking much, and also, fuck you. I never saw a reason to take care of my hair because with the constant weight of certain death weighing on your mind every second of every day, appearance is kind of redundant.”

“I dunno, bro, if someone wanted me dead, I’d look drop-dead gorgeous just to spite them.”

“That's fucking stupid.”

Dave shrugs, grinning at you. He starts washing his own hair and you and Terezi step out of the spray to start drying yourself. 

“I'm not wearing those fucking clothes,” you grumble, picking up your genetic material stained jeans.

“Your sweater is clean, wear that,” Dave tells you, applying conditioner. You roll your eyes, because what the fuck, he’s actually using conditioner, but then again, maybe that’s why his hair is so soft all the time. 

“I'm not going to _just_ wear my sweater,” you growl, pulling it over your head anyway. “Fuck this, I’m going to go grab actual clothes.”

“You could always wear my shirt and boxers if you wanted to, babe. God tier pajamas are self-cleansing, and I’m not ashamed of walking around in no shirt. Plus, you look good in red, so it’s win-win all around.”

“I'm not wearing your gross smuppet boxers. I’m pretty sure they didn’t come in the god tier package.” You pick up his t-shirt anyway, sniffing at it.

“You don’t _need_ to wear pants. You have an admittedly cute butt, which is good, because it balances out how fucking ugly your face is,” Terezi quips, sitting down on the toilet. 

“Or, it distracts from the fact that you have no ass at all, and therefore, you need _me_ around to balance out how flat _your_ behind is,” you reply, glaring at her fully dressed figure. Of course she had her freshly cleaned role-playing outfit on her. 

You consider the merits of sexy roleplaying with her. 

It doesn’t sound like an all-together awful idea.

You’ll work on it later.

Dave finally steps out of the shower, drying his body quickly before wrapping his hair in a towel. You roll your eyes. 

“I gotta side with Rezi on this one, hiding your ass with clothing seems like such a waste.”

“Fuck you both. I’m leaving,” you grunt, slamming open the bathroom door…

…To come face to groin with your ex-moiraill.

Well, fuck. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i'm sorry, this is becoming more and more black karezi and i don't even know why. also, thoughts on pale kanaya/karkat? because im thinking of making it a thing. maybe in a separate fic.) (also i might write more black karezi things separately, so it doesn't nibble away at the davekat i know yall are here for)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> somebody beta things for me. i am but a lonely soul, with no one in the fandom to call my own, and all of my friends hate reading my writing so i need a beta. please. you get sneakpeeks at davekat things and get to see passages of really good conversations that tend to always get deleted, or shortened.   
> i'm so desperate for a beta, though, you don't understand.

When Karkat opens the door to Gamzee, your first instinct is to cover your groin, because for fucks sake, you’re still naked. Your second instinct is to make sure you have a sword on you. 

Terezi doesn’t seem too pleased with his presence outside the door either, but he doesn’t look like he’s focusing too much on anyone but Karkat. You pull on some pants so you’re not completely naked when shit starts to go down, as it always does when psycho-clowns are involved. 

“Haven’t seen you in a while, bro,” Gamzee whispers, cocking an eyebrow at Karkat. You can see how stiff Karkat’s posture has become, and a quick glance over at Terezi tells you she’s just as ready to protect him as you are. 

“Well, you know, throwing people across the room can kinda sway them from wantingtovisit,” he replies. You can see his hands twitch, and you know he’s as prepared for a strife as you and Terezi are. 

“You look better,” Gamzee notes.

“No shit; that was half a sweep ago. Now get the _fuck_ out of my way. What the hell are you doing here anyway? You have your own fucking ablution block, _bulgewhiff_.”

“Yeah,” Gamzee replies, but something’s off with his voice, because it sounds _too_ relaxed, _too_ nonchalant. Terezi notices it too. “Missed you, though.”

“You could wait in my _block_.”

“Wanted to see you immediately.”

“Oh, really? After a whole year of ignoring me except when _you_ needed me, and then another year of zero communication after the worst break-up in paradox space, you decide to finally come see me.”

“Brother, don’t be like that.”

“Why the fuck not?”

Karkat’s becoming exasperated, so you walk forward and press a light kiss against his neck. He huffs and relaxes against you, still tensed up slightly in case he needs to fight. 

“Strider,” Gamzee acknowledges, glaring at your arms wrapped loosely around Karkat’s skinny waist.

“Makara,” you reply, nodding.

“Get your hands off what’s MINE,” he growls, and you just tighten your grip on Karkat.

“Fuck off, Gam, you broke up with _me_ , you have _no hold_ over me. Also, fuck you, I don’t _belong_ to anyone, you absolute globesucker,” the tiny troll in your arms yells, crossing his arms and puffing out his adorable little chest. 

“Tell ‘im, Kitkat,” you whisper, kissing the top of his horns.

“You're not helping, Dave,” he whisper-growls back at you, and you let go of him, stepping back with your arms up in surrender.

“Yessiree, no cuddles from this fine piece of ass,” you reply. Karkat rolls his eyes.

“What ass?”

“I’ll have you know that my ass is definitely prominent, and if the way that you were grabbing it last time we made out was any indication, you know it too.”

“I was grabbing at your ass because I was mesmerized by its incredible flatness. Took me for-fucking-ever to get a good hold anyway.”

“Or, you just really like my cute ass, and couldn’t kee-“

Gamzee snarls, interrupting your banter. Karkat fixes him with the meanest glare you’ve ever seen on him, and you think that’s because it’s the most honest. Something like hurt flashes across Makara’s eyes as Karkat attacks at him with a look that's part anger, part pain, and a whole lot unresolved emotions. 

You almost feel sorry for him. 

Almost.

“Get out of my fucking way, _Makara_ ,” Karkat grumbles, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. 

Gamzee snaps at that, grabbing Karkat and throwing him across the hall before any of you have time to react. He does, however, make the mistake of leaving his back exposed as he stalks over to Karkat, and a quick glance at Terezi tells you she’s thinking the same thing you’re thinking.

You crouch low, brace one arm against your knee and cup your hands as Terezi starts running, one of her bright red Crocs landing neatly in your hands. You push her up and she somersaults onto Gamzee’s back, digging her blades into his shoulder. 

It all happens so quickly that you almost miss Karkat, Gamzee’s hands wrapped around his skinny neck. He looks halfway dead, and you’re tempted to slice of the larger trolls hands if he doesn’t get them off of your boyfriend.

You instead rest the edge of your blade on his wrists.

“Drop him,” you threaten, pressing the blade against his flesh. Karkat weakly opens his eyes to give you the most frightened expression you’ve ever seen on his face.

So, this isn’t the first time he’s been in this position. You raise your sword and prepare to swing it down, but Gamzee throws Karkat at you first. You captchalogue your blade and grab Karkat, swinging him into your arms. 

“Sh, I got you babe,” you whisper, kissing his horn. Gamzee’s nostrils flare at that, but Terezi’s got her knives crossed against his neck, and he looks like he’s giving up.

“You're sleeping in my room tonight, ok?” you murmur, once you’ve walked far away enough that you’re sure Gamzee won’t hear you. Terezi jogs after you.

“Well, that happened,” she says, marching in stride after you. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re more trouble than you’re worth,” she continues, brushing Karkat’s hair back from his eyes. 

“Fuck you,” he rasps, voice weak from being almost killed. 

“I was joking,” she huffs, shrugging.

“So was I,” he retorts.

“Both of you, shut the fuck up. Karks, I ain’t letting you speak until you get some water down your throat, and then I want to know exactly what’s up with you and the psycho-murder-clown,” you command. “Terezi, we’re going to my block. Please go get a bottle of water.”

“Yes sir, Mr Cherry-Apple, sir,” she replies, marching off down the hall ahead of you and Karkat. You hear a transportalizer flash and then you’re alone with Karkat. 

“Dave,” he starts. 

“No, shut up. No talking until you drink some water.”

“Thank you,” he says anyway, shifting in your arm so he’s more comfortable.

“You're welcome. And besides, I’m your boyfriend. That’s like signing an invisible contract that states that I’m supposed to protect you no matter what, and no matter who from.” He snorts at that. You’re glad you’re able to make him smile.

The rest of the walk passes in silence, and by the time you get to your room, Karkat’s already half-asleep. 

You place him on your bed and turn around to get something, but he tugs you towards him, so you just lie down next to him and hold him close. His breathing is loud and irregular, like he’s still trying to catch his breath. You tuck his head under your chin, rubbing his arm softly. 

You realize he’s still not wearing pants. 

“Do you want to borrow a pair of clean-ish boxers?” you ask, breaking the silence. Karkat just nods, his eyes closed and lips slightly parted. You kiss his cheek before pushing him off of you and getting up to hunt around your room for a pile of clothes that looks slightly clean.

You eventually decide your search is futile, and try to check the closet.

You completely forgot you still had clothes in here. You grab a pair of clean underwear that looks slightly smaller than the rest of the things you have stashed away, and after a second decide to bring Karkat some large, soft sweat pants.

“Hey babe, I got you clothes,” you tell him, sitting down at the edge of the mattress. He sits up slightly and reaches for you and the stuff you have bunched in one hand. You shake your head. “I got this, you go back to relaxing.” 

He rolls his eyes, but slumps back down with a huff. You take your time sliding the boxers up his legs. He has nice legs; they’re weirdly clean-shaven, but you already know from experience and a few unneeded xenology lessons that trolls don’t typically grow hair anywhere on their bodies except their heads. 

You wonder if trolls can grow beards. 

Karkat’s shifting brings your attention back to present, and you continue to slide the underwear up, whispering a thanks when he lifts his hips to make your job easier. 

You may or may not pry a squeak from him when you squeeze his ass.

You quickly pull his (your) pants on as well, before flopping next to him and pulling him back on top of you. He cuddles you whole-heartedly, nuzzling his head into your chest.

So. Fucking. Precious.

Terezi comes in a few minutes later, looking incredibly frustrated. 

“Don't tell me,” you say quickly. “Kanaya and Rose got you.”

She nods, dropping aggressively onto the bed.

“Here's your fucking water, I hope it was worth the trouble,” she growls, thrusting the bottle out at Karkat. He sits up and takes it, brushing his fingers against hers in an unspoken thanks.

He then proceeds to attempt to chug half the water bottle down.

“Ok, no, stop, you’re going to make yourself sick,” you scold, pulling the bottle from his hands.

“Fuck you, I’m fine,” he rasps. His voice is better than it was an hour ago. That’s good.

“You're fine _now_ , but don’t you dare try chugging again,” Terezi sighs, huffing. “I'm not refilling that.”

Karkat rolls his eyes and sucks lightly at the bottle. 

“So, obviously that wasn’t the first time he’s thrown you against a wall, or tried to suffocate you,” you remark. Karkat shoots you a look. 

“Ew, you guys are going all pale and mushy, I’ll just leave,” Terezi whines, standing up.

“Kay, see ya,” you tell her, waving her off. “As for you, spill.”

Karkat shifts uncomfortably, crossing his legs awkwardly. You sit up as well, gathering the blankets and pillows into a makeshift pile/nest/thing. Karkat shuffles towards you and you wrap the blankets around him. He kidnaps a pillow and holds it to him as he leans against you.

“Gamzee's a possessive asshole,” he sighs, shoulders sagging.

“What did he do to you?”

“You mean apart from try to kill me? Not much. He was a shitty moiraill, and a shitty friend.”

“Care to elaborate?” you ask, gently prying. Recent events and many long nights on the meteor spent chatting with Rose have proven to you how good it is to get things off of your chest. 

“During the first year, he used to appear out of nowhere and just snatch me off to wherever he was hiding at that time. He’d make me be his pale slut, sometimes for weeks on ends, other times only for a few days.”

“What do you mean, _‘pale slut_ ’?” 

“He’d force me to calm his stupid ass down by threatening me with either my own death, or somebody else's.” He sighs, long and hard. “I used to look for him, sometimes, just because I was feeling so down and self-destructive, that bulgemunch felt like the only thing I deserved.”

A silence falls over you. 

“I'm sorry-“ you start.

“Shut up,” he retorts. “It wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t know.”

He pauses. 

“Nobody knew. I tried to tell Kanaya once, but she was always hanging out with Rose, and I didn’t want to worry her as well.

I’m pretty sure Terezi caught on, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, she nearly walked in on Gamzee beating the shit out of me once. We got into an argument because I was tired of always taking his shit and never being unable to unload any of my thoughts, and he told me that I was his mutant blooded slut, and I didn’t deserve to- to- fuck, I’m sorry,” he mutters, wiping his eyes dry. You grab his hands and kiss his cheek gently. 

“Go ahead and cry, bro. I got you.” He nods shakily. 

“He made me feel worthless,” he hisses, glaring at the walls. You hold him closer. 

“I still have nightmares about the shit he did to me,” he tells you, glancing over at you. “I mean, one time, he started torturing me with just random shit he found hidden around the meteor.”

You don’t know what to say, but you hold him ridiculously tight. “I am going to kill that crazy motherfucker,” you growl. Karkat paps your face. 

“Shoosh, I have you and Terezi now. I’m… fine. Ish. Whatever. Just promise me one thing?”

“Anything for you, babe.”

“Promise me you won’t leave.”

“I promise.”

He nods, wiping his eyes dry and giving you the saddest smile you’ve ever seen on his face. He curls up into you again and falls asleep, breathing steady and soft. 

You are never, ever going to let anything or anyone hurt him. 

Ever.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *grabs bag of feels*  
> *hits you with it*
> 
> this hurt me to write, bc i actually rly like gamkat, but only when gamzee isnt tryna off everyone within a 100 m radius


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as an apology for the delay of this chapter, it contains not only snarky lalondes, but also gratuitous smut.

You wake up to the sound of things being shifted around. 

That terrifies you, because what if Gamzee came after Dave, what if he found out that you told him _everything_. 

You crack open your eyes to see that, no, you aren’t dying, and neither is your boyfriend. A few deep breaths later, you fix Rose with your most frustrated glare.

“What are you doing?” you hiss, sitting up. She glances over at you and shrugs.

“I heard that you and Dave had gotten into a fight with someone, through a source who will remain anonymous-“

“You mean Terezi?”

“-And I simply came to make sure Dave was all right. You, on the other hand…”

Your hand flies up to your neck, touching the bruises slightly. 

“Oh. Yeah, uh. Shit went down, I guess?”

“You guess,” she replies, rolling her eyes. “The two of you are so much alike, I don’t know whether to find it endearing or just downright creepy.”

“I’d go with creepy. Where’s Dave?”

“He got up a while before you. Unless I’m very much mistaken, he’s making you breakfast in bed.”

Your cheeks flush and you reply with a very choked “oh.”

Rose smirks, rolling her eyes. “Karkat, dear, you’re dating my brother. You know he likes doing things for people, and you did get rather badly injured, so I don’t blame him for wanting to pamper you all day. I’d do the same if it was Kanaya that was almost double-killed, and I’m sure you’d do the same and more if anything happened to Dave.”

You huff and shrug. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just _weird_.”

“You're not used to having things done for you, and that’s understandable. However, I highly recommend getting used to it, otherwise it’s going to just get plain old irritating, and that would be remarkably disappointing.”

It’s your turn to roll your eyes, and you fix her with a frustrated glare. 

“Fuck off, Lalonde, I’m not _not_ used to getting things done for me. I just don’t get why he’s so overly _into_ doing shit for me. He doesn’t do that kind of stuff for you, or Terezi, or even the fucking _Mayor.”_

“Very true, but why does it bother you? I’d rather like being faffed over.”

“ _Faffed_. Holy shit, Rose, you actually said _faffed_. That’s an ancient word, even on your planet.”

She sticks her tongue out at you. “You're just jealous I can use antique words casually.”

“ _Rose Lalonde does not do casual_ ,” you reply, face palming. “For fucks sake, I thought you were supposed to be the one with brains.”

“Aren't you just the charmer,” she quips back, flipping her bangs out of her eyes. She does it so elegantly. You look like you got caught head banging and quickly tried to abort when you do it. 

Dave walks in just then, and you sigh in relief. 

“Yo, sis, stop bothering my boyfriend. You’re not supposed to swing that way,” he snorts.

“Does it even matter when it comes to trolls? The only difference is presence or lack of rumblespheres,” Rose murmurs, brushing past her brother.

“Well, actually, some male trolls have rumblespheres too,” you note, cocking an eyebrow at Rose. 

“Mm, but you don’t, and therefore, I’m completely uninterested.”

“Lalonde, how could you? That _hurt._ I can just feel all of my life juices spilling out on the floor as you leave me here, bleeding out and in pain, you cold heartless rumble-sphere loving bitch.”

“Thank you, darling,” she replies, smiling, before trotting out the door. Even trotting is elegant when she does it. What in the actual fuck. 

“That was simultaneously the weirdest and most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen,” Dave says, placing a tray on your lap. “Never be friendly with my ecto-sister ever again, it’s just… _wrong_.”

“I'll be friends with whoever I damn well please, fuck you very much,” you retort, poking bemusedly at the heart-shaped sandwich on your plate. “Also, you’re a massive dork, holy shit.”

“Eat up, I have things I want to do with you,” he says. You raise your eyebrows and grin at him, raising the sandwich to your lips.

“Things?” 

“Yeah, things, and as surprising as this may sound, _non-sex related things_.”

“Well, fuck. Stop the press, Dave Strider _doesn’t_ want to have sex.”

“Hey now, I never said that. I just said I’d like to do more relaxing activities, like serenading you, or mixing songs with you, and other basic shit like that.”

You snort and eat your sandwich, which has been filled with something that tastes vaguely like spiced meat and that curdled milk that the humans like so much. It’s not bad. 

“We never finished that song you started,” you mumble, spitting tiny bits of grubloaf onto Dave’s sheets. You don’t really give a fuck; they’re filthy anyway.

“Yeah,” he muses. 

He pulls his laptop and his mic over. Surprisingly, this time you don’t get nervous. You trust Dave, and the fact that he likes listening to your voice makes you ridiculously happy in ways you can’t really explain. 

“So, you wanna do this now?” he asks, holding out the mic to you. You roll your eyes, waving your sandwich at him. “Right, sorry,” he amends, snorting.

You finish eating, watching as he mixes with the song a little. 

“So, we could start recording from the middle bit,” he says, shrugging. You crawl over and sit next to him, your thighs brushing.

“I guess, but it’s kinda loud and messy in the beginning,” you reply, flushing slightly. 

Dave turns to you. “I like the beginning. It sounds really raw.”

Your cheeks, ears and shoulders are burning bright red. “Um.”

He chuckles, which is a precious sound you wish you could bottle up and keep forever. Goddamn him for being so fucking adorable. You want to tell him he’s cute. 

“Do you want me to sing the whole thing like there’s razors in my throat?” you say instead. 

“That's your normal voice. I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to sing it clean. I like the rasp.”

You growl and elbow him, huffing. “Singing clean sounds nicer.”

“Nah, rasping is hot as hell.”

You roll your eyes. “Fine, I’ll sing this super raspy. Sheesh.”

Dave grins, leaning over to press a kiss against your nose. You huff and roll your eyes, because wow, he’s such an affectionate dork under the whole “I'm really cool and stoic, look at me fail at social engagement” act. You steal a kiss from his lips and pick up the mic. 

“Yeah, let’s do this, _bro_ , let’s make it happen, or whatever other meme you want to fit in here,” you mumble, leaning against his side. “Just don’t pass out on me again, ok?”

He snorts at that, starting the music without another word. You sigh and shift a little uncomfortably. 

You close your eyes as you start singing, and don’t bother trying to clean up your voice. It cracks awkwardly a few times, but you don’t think Dave notices, because next thing you know he’s put the laptop down beside you and is sitting behind you, arms wrapped around your waist. You lean against him and sigh, shifting a little, still singing. You make it to the middle without Dave passing out, and your voice is still as raspy and rough as ever. You close your eyes again, focus on Dave and the music, the way his hands are rubbing at your sides, the way your shirt is riding up as his fingers brush against your grubscars. 

Fuck, at this rate you’re going to be horny, and your voice is already starting to get raspier, and _fuck_ , that’s what he’s trying to do, holy crap. 

You almost trip over a few lines, because oh god, oh god oh fuck oh fucking hell, your bulge is out, and dammit, Dave said he didn’t want to do sex things, what the fuck, oh fuck. 

His hand is in your pants.

Oh _fuck_.

You moan the next lines, arching up against him, and you can hear him chuckle breathlessly into your ear, and wow, he’s jacking you off to the beat of the music, and that means that the little chirrups you can’t quite control are to the beat of the music too, and god, he’s clever, you want to kiss him, but the song’s nearly over, you can wait. 

The song ends suddenly and you spin around and press your lips against Dave’s, grinding desperately against him.

“What the fuck happened to ‘not sex related,’ Dave?” you growl, or whimper, or _something_ , you’re not really sure, you’re just making sounds, because his hands are on your ass, and your nook is wet and spread and fuck, _fuck_ , you’re going to come all over everything and you couldn't care less if you tried.

“I dunno, really,” he replies, as breathless as you. “Your voice is really hot and it made me horny.”

“So your only choice was to make _me_ horny?” you whine, rutting against his hard dick, and woah, the friction is nice, but you need more, so much more, holy _fuck._

“You were busy singing, didn’t want to ruin the recording by flat-out asking you to give me a hand job,” he apologizes, but you don’t really care, you’re so close to coming, and from the look on his face, so is he. 

You lock lips with him, moaning into his mouth, and he moans into yours, and you’re so fucking close. 

Dave bucks his hips up, and it rubs perfectly against your nook, and fuck, you’re coming all over him, and he’s coming too, and oh god, it’s perfect, it’s perfect, and you’re stuck in a good kind of euphoria.

“Dave?” you mumble, catching your breath. He nods, grabbing your head and tucking it into the crook of his neck. “We can do that again, right?” 

He nods again, and lies down, taking you with him. You curl up on his chest, and you guess it’s nap time now, but that’s ok, because you’re still exhausted from yesterday and you’ll never refuse impromptu naps with Dave. 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy 612 everyone!!

Karkat is adorable when he sleeps. He doesn’t snore, but he makes little noises sometimes, a chirrup here, a huff there. 

Ok, maybe it’s a little creepy that you watch your boyfriend when he sleeps, but he rarely ever rests anymore, so him sleeping is a blessing.

Plus he’s so fucking cute when he sleeps.

The only thing ruining the image right now are the reddish blue bruises on his neck. You’re not happy with that. You don’t like seeing him hurt, and you kind of hate yourself for not going after him sooner. 

You realize you never found out what Terezi did to Gamzee. You wonder if she killed him or just absconded after you. You hope it was the second. As much as you hate Gamzee, he’s still slightly important, or some shit like that. 

You shift Karkat off of your chest slightly, letting him tumble softly onto the bed instead of completely lying on top of you, because that’s great and all, but so is breathing, which, in spite of your god tier status, is still something you have to do. You curl up around Karkat anyway, once your lungs have thanked you for relieving the pressure that’s been on them for the last, what, hour or so. 

“Dave,” he hisses, one clawed hand coming down to wrap around your fingers, which have been idly tapping against his hip. 

“Go to sleep, babe,” you growl, kissing his pointed ear. He huffs and pulls your hand to his chest, holding it there as he goes back to sleep. 

Precious little troll.

You tend to forget he’s an alien when you’re not fucking. Hell, you forget it even then, sometimes. You’ve been living on the meteor so long that the trolls stop looking weird, even with their freakishly sharp teeth and their horns and their grey skin. Sometimes, you can almost imagine them as human.

Karkat would totally be a redhead. His horns are easy to disregard, so you just imagine his hair a bright orangey red, his skin nearly white, the little grey freckles all over his face turning various shades of brown. He’d have brownish red eyes, he’d still be short and skinny as hell, but you’re fairly sure if he was a human he’d be less. Muscular. More just skin and bones, because of anorexia, or something like that, because Karkat is definitely the kind of guy to be self conscious about his appearance or his weight to the degree where he’s self-destructive about it. 

You wonder if he’s self-destructive in this form. 

You know he destroys himself mentally, but physically? 

You haven’t seen any scars you wouldn’t expect, but then again, you were never really paying attention. Gamzee broke him, physically and mentally, you know that, but you never saw any scars because you were _never looking._ You’re looking now, though. 

You can see a faint trace of a scar on his jaw, most likely a knick from practicing (he twirls his sickles dangerously close to his face; you’re not surprised in the least). There’s a few snips near his sideburns, but you’re pretty sure that’s from when his lusus used to try to cut it. 

“Dave?” he asks, watching you with bright yellow eyes. “Why are you still awake?”

“Not sleepy,” you reply, shrugging. 

“Why are you staring at me like that, then?” 

“You have a pretty face?” That’s a lame excuse, even for you. He rolls his eyes and turns around to face you. He’s still holding your hand. 

“What's up?” he asks, giving you a very critical look. 

“I was just. Thinking.”

“About?”

“You. Obviously.”

“What about me?”

You pause, not sure what to reply with. You guess the best way to deal with Karkat is to be blunt and straightforward with him, so. 

“Did you ever hurt yourself? On purpose, I mean.” 

He gives you this wide-eyed stare. “Wh-what do you mean? Why would I?”

“You're so self-destructive, it’s ridiculous.” 

“Did _you_?” he asks, shifting a little uncomfortably. 

“No. Thought about it, but I’ve got enough scars from my bro, and the game, I didn’t think I needed anymore. Plus, after we got here, didn’t feel the urge to anymore.” 

He stays silent, just nods once. 

“You still haven’t answered my question,” you point out. 

“I did. Before… before we got together. So not that long ago,” he confesses, avoiding your gaze. You don’t like it, so you touch his chin and his eyes meet yours. They’re glassy with tears that aren’t quite falling. You kiss him softly. 

“I'm sorry,” he breathes. 

“Don't apologize. It’s a coping strategy, right? And you’ve had to deal with pretty tough shit, right? And it’s not like we can go back and change anything anyway…”

He shakes his head and bursts into tears. “I was being an idiot! I knew I shouldn’t have, I knew it was stupid, I just… it was nice. It was. Fuck, I don’t know, I was stupid, it just, it helped, it-“

You kiss him again. 

“Shut up. You’re not doing it again, though. Promise,” you say. 

“I… I promise,” he sighs, wrapping his arms around you and burying his face in your neck. 

You hold him close and just. 

Be there.

With him, and for him. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heh, for karkats birthday, i went for even more intense angst. apologies, recently its been difficult for me to write anything remotely cutesy and happy.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whats this, an update?

“Gnh,” you mumble, eyes cracking open. Dave’s arm is tight around your waist, his face buried between your horns, legs tangled with yours, and you can’t move at all. 

You don’t mind, but you’re feeling a little squashed, so you shift slightly. Dave whines and tugs you closer, and you sigh. You don’t want to wake him up, but your legs are starting to lose any feeling and you’re desperate. 

“Dave,” you hiss, patting his head away. He groans and buries his nose in your hair. “ _Dave_ ,” you grumble, hitting his arms. He loosens it, but doesn’t really relent. 

“Karkat, shut up and go to sleep,” he whispers, breath blowing over your horns. You shiver and growl.

“I would, if I could feel my legs.” He huffs, shifting so his legs are instead resting behind yours and you stretch them out slightly, getting a little bit of feeling back in your feet. 

“Better?” he asks, mouth next to your ear now. You nod. “Good.” He tucks his face between your horns again and is snoring within minutes. 

You sigh. Again. 

As much as you love cuddling, you would kind of like to be doing something. You’ve felt so useless the last… week? Or something like that. After Terezi and Dave chased off your ex-moiraill, you’ve been pampered relentlessly. Dave convinced you to tell Terezi about your self-harm habit, and she smacked you pseudo-affectionately (that’s a lie, it left a bruise) on the arm before inviting you to strife with her whenever. You did, once, but it didn’t help because you knew Terezi was going easy on you. 

And then Dave…

Dave is a great matesprit and you feel awful for it, but you feel so overwhelmed. You’ve barely had time to yourself for _anything_ , and all you really want to do is sit somewhere, alone, writing shitty songs and ignoring everyone else.

You never realized relationships could be this stressful. 

You pick Dave’s arm up and slide out under it, placing your pillow in it’s place. He doesn’t wake up.

Quietly, you make your way out of the room. Your feet guide you in no real direction, but within moments you realize you’ve stepped into Gamzee’s territory. 

You guess you’re still hung up over him. You never felt as if you deserved him before he snapped, and you felt as if you never deserved better afterwards. According to Terezi, the halls should be safe now. Relatively. 

You step into one of the rooms he used to force you into. The small doodles he made when you were choking, bleeding out or both, lying uselessly next to him, are still bright on the walls. It’s always weirded you out the troll blood stays bright, even when it dries. Your blood especially. You walk over to one of the practically glowing red stains, tracing your finger over the design. It’s a small diamond. You feel like throwing up. 

Slowly, you stand up and walk out. You keep walking, and you don’t look back. 

You only stop to breathe when you arrive in your own respiteblock. You uncaptchalogue the guitar Dave made for you and sit down on your pile. 

“ _I got troubled thoughts, and the self-esteem to match,  
_ _What a catch  
_ _What a catch…”_

You pause. 

Your fingers find a different set of chords. You don’t know what you want to play. 

_“These are the eyes and the lies of the taken  
_ _These are their hearts but their hearts don't beat like ours…”_

You feel uninspired. 

Thinking about Gamzee sapped all your energy, and all you want to do is sleep, but you’ve been doing so much of that lately and you’re starting to hate yourself for it. 

Something hits you and you start searching. You had a song hidden _somewhere,_ and now you finally have inspiration and motivation to work on it. 

After sifting through a pile of bad lyrics and shitty tabs, you find it. 

_“‘What’s your profession?’_  
The art of avoiding,  
When it comes to discretion  
I'm a goddamn royal

 _Draw the curtains_  
Usher in the crowd  
Show them my burdens  
Hope this makes you proud

 _Fake a smile_  
For a while  
It’s fine when I’m alone  
I get to thinking  
Of what I’m missing  
Nothing here to call my own” 

You start a fast rhythm, playing around with different chord patterns and riffs, testing your voice on increasingly difficult melodies. You let yourself fade out of the world, because as far as you know, Terezi has no idea you’re awake and Dave is still sleeping. 

You finally, _finally_ , find a really good chord pattern and melody, and you’re going through the whole song, your voice fluidly switching from minor to major, the sound of your guitar thrumming in your chest. 

You strum a final chord, let your voice linger in the air. You’re grinning, tired, happy and relaxed and, for the first time in a while, you feel a little less useless than normal. 

Someone starts clapping softly. You jerk up and crack your neck turning around to see who’s standing in your doorway.

“Kanaya, what in the actual _fuck_ ,” you yelp, glaring at her. You raise a hand to your slightly sore neck and she chuckles. 

“Apologies, dear, but when I heard music from your block my curiosity was spiked. You’ve got a beautiful voice,” she says, sitting next to you. You huff and shift slightly away from her. She shifts closer to you.

“I heard about what happened with Gamzee,” she says, incredibly softly. You wince anyways. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” you reply. She takes one of your hands. 

“I _also_ saw you walking into one of his rooms a few hours ago.” You freeze up and glance at her. 

“I- I just,” you try to start. She puts a finger on your lips. 

“Sh, I know, it’s fine. And I won’t tell Dave.”

You sigh in relief and she wraps an arm around your shoulder. You don’t mind. You’ve always been bordering on pale with Kanaya, and you don’t mind at all when she shows it. 

“Could you play something for me?” she asks. You shift slightly away from her again, moving your guitar so it’s resting comfortably on your thighs, before you start awkwardly picking at strings. 

“Uh, what do you want me to play?” you ask, realizing that you actually have no clue what kind of music Kanaya listens to. 

“Anything, although… preferably something a little milder than what you were playing previously?” she replies. “I’m not so much of a fan of loud, aggressive… songs.”

You roll your eyes. “Thanks Kan.”

You actually have no clue what to play. Your mind is blank. You uncaptchalogue your laptop, searching desperately for any song on your playlist that’s soft. One google search and a very amused glance from Kanaya later, you’re ready to “perform.” 

“Ok, if I fuck this up beyond recognition, I’m sorry. I haven’t played this before,” you mumble, glaring at the chords on your screen. 

“ _How cruel is the golden rule?  
When the lives we lived are only golden-plated”_

You trail off. There’s a song you want to play more, and even though you’ve been forcing yourself to forget about it and play something else, because you’ve been around Dave so often, and you don’t think he’d quite understand, and because Kanaya was there with you when it happened…

You trust her. 

You cough and she glances over as you type a different song into the search engine. 

You start the chords slowly, up, down, a fast up-down.

“ _So long to all my friends_  
Everyone of them met tragic ends  
With every passing day  
I’d be lying if I didn’t say  
That I miss them all tonight  
And if they only knew what I would say…” 

Kanaya has gone very quiet and very still beside you.

“ _If I could be with you tonight_  
I would sing you to sleep  
Never let them take the light behind your eyes  
One day I’ll lose this fight  
As we fade in the dark  
Just remember you will always burn as bright.”

“Karkat,” she chokes out. You grab her hand and she squeezes it. 

“Sorry,” you start but she shushes you and grabs you in a hug instead. You put your guitar on the floor and hug her back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *subtly includes pale kankat* 
> 
> the songs are What a Catch, Donnie by Fall Out Boy, The World is Ugly by My Chemical Romance, a song me and my band are writing, Golden by Fall Out Boy and The Light Behind Your Eyes by My Chemical Romance in that order. 
> 
> Sorry this took so long.

**Author's Note:**

> welp. i might follow this up.. but hey, depends how this is received. drop a comment or a kudos or whatever. seriously though, comments are really appreciated. tell me if you want a second chapter. (also, my head canon for karkat's voice, singing and speaking, is and always will be Case. y'all should go get both his albums, they are in-fucking-credible)


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